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The Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Contributed by Karim Chandra
Content
Overview
Context
Characters
Motifs
Themes
Symbols
Plot Summary
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
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Chapter 1
Summary

The book begins when Ralph, who, after regaining consciousness on a deserted island, meets Piggy. They discuss their predicament. Amid a nuclear war, a group of British schoolboys — among them, Ralph and Piggy — was aboard a plane to an unknown destination.

During their flight, the aircraft was attacked and crashed into an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Ralph expresses joy at the lack of adults present, but Piggy is reserved. While Piggy is interested in knowing Ralph's name, the latter is not concerned with introductions. Ralph finds and blows into a conch shell he found on the beach to summon anyone else who might be stranded on the island.

Within a few minutes, boys ranging in age from six to twelve arrive. Jack and his choir march in after everyone else. The boys discuss their situation and elect Ralph their leader because he discovered the conch that brought them together. Ralph proposes that Jack manage the hunters.

Ralph leads the boys in exploring their surroundings, and through this, they come to understand they are trapped on a deserted island. As they explore, Jack shows off his large knife to other boys. Piggy stays behind to note the other boys’ personal information. After their tedious journey around the island, Jack, Simon, and Ralph find it thrilling to be alone on the island with new friends. As they return from their trek, they discover a wild pig, and Jack attempts to kill it. He pulls out his knife and attacks, but he misses. Embarrassed, Jack swears that he will be more aggressive next time and promises that the pig will not escape.

Analysis

This chapter introduces the novel’s main characters: Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon. It begins with the novel’s first and most obvious conflict: nature versus technology. Nature wins when the plane crashes, stripping the boys of their familiar civilization. The plane’s crash-landing creates a “scar” in the jungle — one that does not heal. In a similar vein, this initial conflict paves the way for other key challenges: savagery versus civilization; physicality versus intellect; and animosity versus compassion.

These conflicts are reflected in the boys’ physical surroundings. On the beach, Ralph discovers the conch that he uses to assemble the boys and organize a democratic election of their leader. The beach represents order. On the other hand, all forms of evil, violence, and control emerge in the jungle. This beach-versus-jungle contrast emphasizes the divide between order and chaos that blurs and eventually disappears altogether by the novel’s end.

As sometimes happens in real-world democracies, the boys elect their leader based on his appearance and projection of confidence. Ralph’s handsomeness and possession of the conch play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the vote. While Jack has some leadership potential via control, his arrogance does not inspire confidence in the other boys. Unlike Jack, Ralph resembles a diplomat, ready to sacrifice some of his power for the greater good. For example, he gives Jack control over the choir-turned-hunters and assigns Piggy the duty of learning everyone’s name.

From his first appearance in the book, Jack displays attributes of a militaristic dictator. His choir members obey him because he commands their unquestioning subservience. Jack makes his “troops” march in perfect columns until one of them — Simon — collapses. Jack’s militant behavior fits well within the war-torn society from which the boys left on the plane, suggesting they have not escaped it after all.

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