Lord of the Flies

Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Flies
Review: When their plane is shot down the boys are deemed with the task of getting off a deserted tropical island. A boy by the name of Ralph is chosen to be their leader and he appoints Jack to be the leader of the hunters. Throughout the book the boys attempt ways to be found, many of them not working. There are basically four main characters in this novel, Ralph, Jack, Simon and Piggy. All of them have unique traits which lead to conflicts throughout the novel.

A twelve year old boy by the name of Ralph is the chosen leader of the civilization. Throughout the book Ralph has to fend off the other boys attempt at his power. Jack, elected leader of the hunters by Ralph is the opposite of Ralph. Jack is a savage like boy that wants total power and will do whatever it takes to be at the top. Simon is said as the only naturally "good" character on the island. He is nice to all the younger boys on the island. Piggy is Ralph's "lieutenant" who is an innovative inventive child. His intelligence leads to the development of the Sundial, which the boys use to tell time. They are all given things to do in order to be found, some more challenging than others.

The first thing Ralph wants the children of the island to do is start a signal fire. They use Piggy's eyeglasses to start the fire, but the fire quickly ignites the forest. When Ralph realizes that the Signal Fire is out he is upset at Jack. When Jack gets back from hunting he has caught something for the first time and Ralph's fury gets lost in the mix. Throughout the novel a conch shell serves as a symbol of power. Whoever has the conch shell controls everything; the kids, the island and most importantly the civilization. As the adventure goes on the little boys or the "littluns" are becoming terrified of being on the island.

Later on in the novel the hunters go into the mountains of the island to look for monsters. The littluns are having nightmares about there being monsters on the island. From a distance the hunters see what they think is an ape hanging from a tree. It is really a parachutist that was killed hanging in a tree. A character by the name of Roger is beginning to become a factor at this point in the story. Roger is Jack's "lieutenant" and is just like Jack. Cruel and a savage type of boy. Sides between the groups of children are being formed. Jack's hunters versus Ralph's people. Roger rolls a boulder down a hill and kills Piggy and shatters the conch shell. In spite of all this fight between the groups a ship saw the fire that was started and arrived at the island. A British Naval Officer saves the children.

If I had the choice to read this book again I would because it is a very good book. If you are the type of reader that likes adventure and not knowing what is going to happen then this is the book for you. At every point in this novel, you could just stop at the end of the chapter you had to keep reading. If I had to grade this novel on a scale of one to ten, I would give it a nine because it was a great book.