Interpretation - Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

There has been an atomic explosion and the children have been evacuated in an aircraft with a detachable passenger tube. Flying over tropical seas ( having travelled via Gibraltar and Addis Ababa) the aircraft has been attacked and has released the tube which has crash-landedin the jungle of the island. The aircraft has flown off in flames, the remains of the tube have been swept out to sea in a storm.

When Ralph and Piggy could call all children together they decide to make fire on the top of the mountain in case a ship passes by. When they lit the fire it burnt already down, but the fire lights also the jungle under the top of the mountain. Piggy, who was against this idea of making fire not to be overseen, and noticed that one little boy with a birthmark in his face was absent. He was never seen anymore.

On the next day Ralph built up shelters on the beach and Jack and Simon hunted pigs. They decided to sent two of them to the top of the mountain to keep the fire burning when a ship passes by. But one day there was a ship, but there was no smoke on the mountain. Jack needed the two boys, who had to keep the fire burning, to kill a pig. He was very proud that he killed a pig.

In the dawn Ralph made an assembly. He made clear that there has ever one to keep the fire burning and that he was the leader that have been voted for. Jack did not accept this facts and Ralph and he quarreled. There was another point they discussed. The younger ones, called littluns, had nightmares and were afraid of the snake thing. The believed in a beast, which should live on the island to. In that night there was a fight in the sky and something fell down from the sky onto the island. At that time Sam and Eric had to watch the fire. When the told Ralph and the others the started an exploration to kill the beast.

After the dawn only Ralph, Jack and Roger climbed on to the mountain top. When they came up to it there was a creature resting ist head between the knees. Suddenly it moved ist head.

Jack wanted that the children would make him to the chief, but nobody was brave enough to speak it out in front of Ralph. Jack ran away and some of the biguns followed him after a while. When the killed a pig they left ist head on a stick as a gift for the beast. Simon "dreamed" that the flies which sat on the head of the dead pig would follow him and that the head speaks to him (therefore "Lord of the flies" ). Then Simon felt like the mouth of the pigs head would intervine him. After that he fell down and lost conciousness.

When Simon got up again he went for a while. He noticed that their monster was only a dead pilot who escaped from his falling aircraft with a parachute. In the meanwhile Jack and his hunters had a feast with meat and dance. Ralph and Piggy were there too an had their meat, but they went again. When Jack and the others had hunters-dance something crawled out of the forest. The group attacked the beast ( it was Simon ) because of fear and killed it and ran away. Simon's body was swept into the sea in the night.

In the next night Jack and his hunters stole Piggy's spectacles and the signalfire. When Ralp and Piggy and the twins, Sam and Eric, wanted to get these things back Ralph and Jack fought one against another. When Roger heaved down a rock with leaver Piggy jumped away and fell down 40 yards and died. The sea took away his dead body. Samneric were caught by Jacks tribe and Ralph ran away. Jack urged Samneric to join the tribe by hitting them. In the night Samneric had to watch out for Ralph. Ralph spoke with them and they told him that Roger and Jack are going to hunt Ralph the next day.

On the next day Ralph hid in the undergrowth. When Jack's tribe set this on fire the hunted him through the forest, but Ralph ran twoards the beach where a naval officer was. He saw the fire and came to the island to rescue them.