Discussion Topic
The purpose and destination of the boys' flight in Lord of the Flies
Summary:
The boys in Lord of the Flies are being evacuated from England during wartime, with the purpose of reaching a safer location. However, their flight crashes on an uninhabited island, stranding them and setting the stage for the novel's exploration of human nature and societal breakdown.
In Lord of the Flies, where were the boys headed in the plane?
The setting of the novel takes place around the 1950s during an atomic world war. The plane that the boys are flying in crash-lands on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. William Golding also does not reveal the plane's destination in the novel. One can infer several possibilities in regards to where the boys were traveling. It is possible that the group of schoolboys were being evacuated to Australia, Hawaii, or the United States. As was mentioned in the previous answer, Australia is a likely destination being that it is part of the British Commonwealth. Since the United States was one of Britain's allies during WWII, they could possibly be traveling to Hawaii or California. Essentially, William Golding did not find it important to reveal the location of the boys' destination and simply needed a scenario where young boys were able to create a society without...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
the influence of adults.
Golding never directly says where the boys were going in the novel, but the reader can draw conclusions based on the information and details that the author does provide. The boys in the story are English school boys, and were more than likely being evacuated from their home country to escape the possibility of atomic warfare, which Piggy hysterically mentions to Ralph at the beginning of the first chapter:
"Not them. Didn't you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They're all dead" (14).
Later in the first chapter when Jack and the choir boys are introduced, Jack mentions the plane's stopping points when he makes fun of Simon's sickness:
"'He's always throwing a faint,' said Merridew. 'He did in Gib.; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor'" (20).
Jack's reference contains some pertinent geographical information about the boys' plane route. From England, they flew to a refueling station in Gibraltar (Spain) and then on to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); if you make a straight line between these two locations, that same line travels on toward Australia, which more than likely was the boys' destination. Australia would be a logical evacuation site; the country is far from Europe, but is still British (part of the Commonwealth).
Why were the boys on the plane in Lord of the Flies?
In Chapter 1, Ralph meets Piggy. Ralph tells him that when his father (who's in the Navy) gets leave, he will come to rescue them. Piggy wonders how Ralph's father will even know where they are. Ralph answers that the people at the airport would tell him. Piggy replies, “Not them. Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead.” This suggests that the boys were evacuated (from England) due to the threat and/or reality of a nuclear war.
This is a key part to understanding the themes of the novel. While the boys are trapped on the island, the exterior world of adults are engaged in a war. This creates two parallel societies: the boys and the adults beyond the island. Golding presents a thought provoking series of questions. For instance, if boys are stranded on an island, will they establish some senses of order and harmony or will they devolve into fighting and warfare? And, even if they do end up devolving into violence, are they more savage than their adult counterparts? The boys might be fighting with spears and rocks but does that make them more savage than the adults who fight with more technologically advanced weaponry?