William Golding (1911–1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet best known for his debut novel Lord of the Flies (1954), which established his reputation as a significant contemporary author. Born in Cornwall, England, Golding was initially a schoolmaster and served as a Royal Navy lieutenant during World War II, experiences that deeply influenced his writing. His work often explores the conflict between the forces of light and dark within the human soul, focusing on the fragility of civilization and humanity’s capacity for savagery.
Lord of the Flies, Golding’s most famous work, tells the story of British schoolboys stranded on a deserted island who descend into chaos and violence as the veneer of civilization breaks down. The novel challenges the notion of innate human innocence and critiques the idea that civilization inherently restrains humanity’s darker impulses. Although initially met with mixed reviews and multiple rejections, the book became a modern classic widely studied in schools and colleges, praised for its profound symbolism and exploration of human nature.
Golding published a total of 13 novels, including Rites of Passage (1980), which won the Booker Prize, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983 for his outstanding contribution to literature. His novels often function as fables or myths, rich in spiritual and religious symbolism, and set across various historical periods, from prehistoric times to contemporary society. Golding was knighted in 1988 for his literary achievements and remains one of the most influential British writers of the 20th century.
I know that i am late to this essential classic work, but for some reason at first glance when i started reading it i wasn’t interesting, a bit of an older English tone to my style and wanted to just DNF it but then i remembered that this is an essential piece of English literature that is is mandatory reading in american high-schools and sometimes at university level too, so i kept pushing through - around the second chapter of the book i had already gotten a grasp of Golding’s writing style and the language and was invested in the story and also thanks to E.M. Forster1 introduction on the edition i purchased i was set forward with some main points to keep me invested.
From a writing points of view i have to say that the book did a fantastic job from capturing the atmosphere and the scenes around to the minutiae details in each conversation, and descriptions of characters. Out first in the introduction Forster said that “It is possible to read the book at a political level” and i do see how that comes to play.
Even though in LOTF we are in this absurd situation with a couple of kids that haven’t even reached puberty in this stranded island William makes sure that we take note of human beings innate nature in stressful and dire situations - the savagery that consumes and overtakes one is a deeper and instinctual to a point where if the circumstances do appear it is inevitable. Starting from the dynamics of the groups and the traits that each character embodies along with the setting we are in plays out in ways that i did not expect, there are points where Golding lets us reflect on the story we are invested in by slowly reminiscing and reflecting on the things that are no more there.
The book encompasses a lot and can be unpacked in many different ways, i can say i enjoyed reading the book and didn’t dislike it as much as i thought i would and will say if you want to give it a shot go ahead what the worst that can happen Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! uhmm idk what took over me…
somethings that caught my eye ..
“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages”
“Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!”
“The greatest ideas are the simplest”
“We just got to go on, that’s all. That’s what grownups would do.”