Lord of the Flies

 

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

I must admit, I don't really like this book. 

I think it's because I like books that are conclusive, and leave you feeling satisfied to some degree. I'm aware that this is a bit of a contradiction given what I've written previously - I love distopian fiction, and almost by definition, distopic literature leaves you feeling uneasy. And maybe I accept that in distopian reading because that is what I expect. However, when I picked up Lord of the Flies, I was expecting more of a Robinson Crusoe type thing. I'm not sure why - maybe because most of the covers depict a tropic island of some sort. 

I didn't like the characters - I found it hard to empathize with them. I didn't like the setting, and I hated the events that took place. However, I believe without a doubt that that was Golding's intention, to some degree. He makes what should be familiar, friendly characters (London schoolboys) into twisted monsters, who, under the influence of an increasingly savage group mentality perform actrocities such as the murder and torture of each other. 

Most schools have this book as required reading at some point, which, from an educational point of view, is a great thing. Full of messages about morality vs immorality, rationality vs emotion, individual opinion vs groupthink, the book is highly allegorical. It's also full of potential to analyse, which maybe would have made it easier to read - take some of the emotional responses to the book away and replacing them with rational, analytical and critical thinking. That kind of personal removal would likely minimize the negative back-lash I felt when reading the book. 

Not only do the events and characters of the book make me feel uneasy, they, at times, physically disgusted me. In many cases, this would be a good thing - not all good characters are necessarily the 'good' guy, however, in this case, there was very little in the way of redeeming features for any of them as they seemingly both choose and fear their collapse into anarchy. Each character is systematically torn down by Golding, so we are left with only pity or disgust, despising many of them. 

Certainly, it's a fascinating story, but the fascination is morbid and deeply uncomfortable. While undoubtedly a classic, personally, I didn't like this book.

Tell me what you think. 

xKath

Next up: James Joyce's Dubliners