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It depicts the transformation into savagery of a group of schoolboys stranded on a deserted island without adult supervision in the aftermath of a plane crash while fleeing wartime Britain.

An episode of The Simpsons titled Das Bus was a parody of Lord of the Flies, mirroring it in many ways.

It has been said that the author's view on society is such that civilization is merely a thin layer, and that we are really all savages underneath. If the checks and balances of civilization fall away, the real, savage nature of humans surfaces. One can see such examples in the real world, e.g. Cultural Revolution in Communist China or mob behaviour during the French RevolutionThe period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. While France wo. This is illustrated in the book, as once arriving on the island most of the boys quickly begin to lose their civilised behaviour and form tribal groups. Ralph, the hero, remains to the end of the book the only boy to have retained his original behaviour who is still alive. Piggy is knocked off a cliff by Roger towards the end of the book. His conch shatters on contact with the ground, while the boy's head shatters as it hits the white rock. The body twitches as it slips into the water. Sam and Eric are captured by Jack Merridew, leader of the savages, and are forced to reveal Ralph's location. Ralph escapes with his life only after a military ship spots a large fire set by the boys and embarks on a rescue mission.

Because Ralph is still alive, he becomes hunted by the rest of the group, a tribe led by Jack. Throughout the book, Golding has each character represent a different aspect of civilization. Ralph can be thought of as representing democracyA democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies with the voting citizenry (referred to as "the people", because in modern times it usually consists of all people over 18 years of age), and all - initially he acts by taking votes - whereas Jack depicts savagery and dictatorship. Another central character nicknamed Piggy (we never learn his real name) probably represents science and knowledge, because of his clear methodical thinking. The fact that Roger kills Piggy and Jack hunts Ralph could be seen as Jack's and Roger's (and implicitly the savage human nature's) rejection of civilized society. The rotten pig's head represents the Lord of the Flies, or BeelzebubBeelzebub (more accurately Baal Zebub or Baal Zbub , appears as the name of a god worshipped in the Philistine city of Ekron. It is later the name of a demon/devil, often interchanged with Beelzebul . Either form may appear as an alternate name for Satan, which Simon, the incarnation of the good, wise and open-minded part of humanity, must confront. See Lord of the Flies (phrase)This article is about the origins and meaning of the phrase. Lord of the Flies is the title of a novel by William Golding. Lord of the Flies is the English-language translation of the Hebrew word Baal-zevuv which in turn is a deliberate corruption of the for the title's origins.

The book is frequently brought up as evidence that anarchismAnarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. These philosophies use anarchy to mean a society based on voluntary cooperation of free individual would fail. This argument is said because of the sequence of events which occur after the leader of the characters ceases to hold any power. Anarchists respond to this by arguing that the concept of anarchy is never a part of the story and that the antagonist represents fascism (the opposite of anarchism) more than any other political ideology. Still, others claim that the book is evidence that immature people (incapable of making responsible decisions) could never successfully run a society, no matter how small.

For a similar novel, see The BeachThe Beach ( 1996) is a novel by Alex Garland about backpackers in Thailand. The Story In a cheap guest-house Richard, a young Englishman, meets a mentally disturbed Scotsman called Daffy Duck who leaves him a hand-drawn map of some hidden beach inaccessib.

One could also argue that this book presents the point of view that politics is mainly a battle between the elites. Ralph represents an "established" political party and Jack represents the leader of an upstart revolutionary party. Jack is interested in power only for power's sake. Being very intelligent, he realizes that the easiest way to gain power is by appealing to people's dark side. This book argues that a society's ideals are shaped by its leaders since most people are easily swayed.