Plot Overview
Novel Notes
In a time of war a plane full of young boys,
crashes in an unknown island. The pilot dies in
the plane crash but a lot of the boys survive
and find themselves stranded. They will soon
have to find a way to govern themselves in
order to survive long enough to be rescued.
The boys will have to choose between surviving faced with the conflict between survival and the
or keeping their morals and doing the greater good. This influenced William Golding to make
good. Survival pushes the kids to do things that
boys just wouldnt do. Ralph and Jack are two
boys who battle for the alpha male role and end
up taking extreme measures. Jack is the leader
of a group of hunters in charge to kill pigs to
eat, and Ralph is the overall leader of the boys.
They decide to build a signal fire on top of the
mountain to signal off any ships or planes. One
day there were planes fighting above them and
at night while they were asleep a parachutist
dies while descending on the island. The boys,
already scared of a beast think that the
parachutist is a beast. They hold a expedition
and the parachutes shadow makes the boys
believe it is a huge ape. Simon, a boy that is
part of Jacks crew finds the parachuter and
when coming back to tell the boys, he is killed
by Piggy and Ralph. Simon was trying to
About the Author
-Born in September 19, 1911
-Died in June 19, 1993
William Golding was born in September 19, Lord of The Flies
1911 and was just 29 years old when he joined
the Royal Navy. The experience in World War 2
showed Willaim the evil people can be when
William Golding
Lord of The Flies a book about survival and Guillermo Lazaro
what it does to someones morals and ethics 03/10/2017
Historical Context
Essential Quotes
William Golding wrote this book after WW2 which
Maybe there is a...maybe it's only us.
explains why it is in a time of war and why the boys
have to choose between survival and civilization.
(Golding 89)
William Golding is from England which makes the
boys have patriotism for the English soldiers. WW2 We've got to have rules and obey them.
made Britain have a huge loss to their economic
After all, we're not savages. We're
system. They lost 12% of their productive capacity.
English (Golding 42)
Work Cited:
"Lord of the Flies." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d.
explain that the beast is inside of each kid, he Web. 09 Mar. 2017.

learns this from the sows head that the boys "William Golding." Biography.com. A&E Networks
Television, 23 May 2016. Web. 09 Mar. 2017.
had killed a while back. Jack and his hunting
crew then go out to hunt down Ralph and "Economic Effects of the War." Economic Effects of
World War II. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2017.
Piggy. Piggy gets killed and as this happens
Ralph flees and from exhaustion he collapses.
He collapsed next to an English naval officer
and the officer waited for the boys to tell them
what happened while the boys weeped.
 Character Analysis
Ralph
Ralph is the oldest of the boys and the protagonist
and leader. He represents civilization with his conch
and with him trying to govern the boys. This then
takes a turn once the boys join Jack and become
savages and decide to leave Ralph and the civilized
ideas he has and represents.
Jack
Jack is the opposite of Ralph. He is a savage and
his ideas is to do whatever it takes to survive. He is
thirsty for power which isnt given to him in the
beginning, that is until the boys become much more
savage by staying longer and longer on the island.
The boys soon turn to him as their leader as
survival pushes them to have Jacks ideals.
Piggy
Piggy represents the fear boys have. At the
beginning they pushed him away but he stayed
loyal to Ralph. Fear made him look for a leader and
that was Ralph. He represents the boys of the
island but he did not turn to be a savage and
decided to stay with Ralph and civilization.
Themes
Good vs Evil:
The boys have to contemplate their
actions they have to take in order to
survive. They know it is evil however still
believe it is good because it is to survive.
It is a inner good that makes them
question their actions but survival
instincts makes them do evil things.
Loss of Innocence:
The boys have to do things that make
them lose their innocence. They are
young and makes it hard for them to lose
their childhood innocence at such a
young age. Ralph is the oldest at 12
years old, meaning most of the boys are
still small children who wouldve never
had to kill to eat back home.
Absolute Power:
Ralph and Jack fight for the alpha male
position between the kids. The absolute
power that comes with it brings out the
greed in the kids and makes them want
it. Having absolute power over the
smaller children is so amazing that some
of the boys will do anything for it.
Motifs and Symbols
Conch Shell
The conch shell first symbolized power and a
way to govern. In a way it represented
civilization and that the boys would not turn into
savages. The shell later loses the value just as
the boys lose their innocence and become
savages. The boys no longer listen to Ralph
even though he has the conch shell. When
Piggy was killed the conch shell was also
crushed and broken. It symbolized the
complete savagery of the boys and their lack of
civilization.
The Beast
The beast symbolizes the fear of survival. The
boys become more savage as the beast
becomes more of a thing. The idea of the beast
pushes the kids to become more and more
savage. They start offering it things as if it is a
God of some sort. Simon soon realizes that the
beast isnt one single thing but lives within the
boys.
Piggys Glasses
Piggys glasses are the symbol of knowledge,
and in a way power. At the beginning of the
book they use them to create the signal fire
that brings a ship to rescue at the end of the
book. The savages know this, and its why they
take Piggys glasses when they go hunting
them after Simons death.