Lord of the Flies A3

Clint Madsen
A3i
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
208
Rating: Really liked it ****

I recommend this book to people who are interested in adventure and castaway fiction. I think boys of high school and Jr. high age would also enjoy this book, because the
story is based on a group of teenage boys stranded on an island trying to survive. You shouldn't read this book if violence and cannibalism is not appealing to your interest.

During war, a plane is evacuating a group of school boys when it is shot down over an island. Without any adults around these boys have to learn to survive and obtain order at the same time. They hold an election in which Ralph defeats Jack to become leader of the group. As leader, Ralph believes the boys time should be spent building shelter and keeping a signal fire going. Many conflicts arise with boys not keeping the fire going or not being able to obtain food for the rest of the group. The littler boys start having nightmares that there is a beast living on the island putting fear into everyone. The group splits up and some follow Jack, Jack starts a hunt for this so-called beast and places a head of a pig on a spear as bait for the beast. With the boys starving of lack of food they turn to cannibalism and kill the followers of Ralph. Without order and food, surviving becomes a real difficult task for these young boys.

I gave this book the rating of 4 out of 5, because I really like the overall plot of the story. The book always left me on the edge, always left me with an unanswered question. I just couldn't wait to find out what problem they were going to have to face next or how they were going to get off the island. I liked the way the author toke time introducing the character's personalities and views on how they should survive. The reason I didn't give the book a rating of 5 was because of the thoughts that went through my mind as the author graphically described the savage, blood-thirsty boys eating and killing their friends.

My favorite passage is, "The officer grinned cheerfully at Ralph.
"We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?" I liked this passage because the officer is in complete shock to find a group of boys looking half dead and stranded on an island. Yet he jokes that they look like they have been involved in a war of their own.