Lord of the Flies - William Golding - A Short Summary & Reviews
Lord of the Flies - William Golding - A Short Summary & Reviews
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A short summary:
When a group of schoolboys is stranded on a deserted island with no adult supervision, their initial attempts at order and cooperation mirror the civilization they’ve left behind. Rules are established, roles assigned, and rescue prioritized, at least at first.
But as fear grows and structures weaken, power shifts. Reason gives way to impulse, and the boys’ fragile society fractures under the weight of violence, superstition, and ambition. What unfolds is a stark exploration of how easily the veneer of civilization can erode, and how quickly innocence is lost when restraint disappears.
My favorite quote from the book:
Questions to ponder while reading:
My review:
This is a rite of passage for a reason.
Lord of the Flies is unsettling not because it imagines monsters, but because it insists the monsters are already there. Teenagers, left to their own devices, become frighteningly capable of cruelty once rules lose meaning. (Cue the My Chemical Romance soundtrack, emotionally accurate, honestly.)
Golding’s central argument is brutally simple: it is our civility, our shared agreements, ethics, and accountability that keep us human. Strip those away, and chaos doesn’t creep in slowly; it rushes through the door.
Uncomfortable, provocative, and still deeply relevant, this novel doesn’t let the reader off the hook. It asks us to consider not just what children might become without guidance, but what adults are quietly containing every day.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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