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The scene where Simon confronts the Lord of the Flies is probably one of my favorites in all of literature. "I'm the reason. I'm the reason why nothing can ever work. You cannot run from me. You'll find me down on the beach, for I am inside of you." Paraphrasing here but you get the idea. It's so powerful.
This just makes me wonder if John Green has ever taken care of large groups of children for a prolonged period of time.
I love LOTF when read through the lense of it being a genre satire of those "young British Christian boys go on an adventure and uphold proper British Christian standards" novels. I like it less when read through the lense of a societal critique.
While john isnt wrong with some of his realizations i dont feel like his analysis of loft is very valid as it seems john doesnt understand loft the point of loft is that of human nature when you break it down in ways its not supposed to be analyized and dont focus on the parts that are supposed to be analyzed. You lose the meaning, just because you lose the meaning doesnt mean there is none, just that you missed it.
I think Lord of The Flies is a great example of how death of the author can save a story.
In the book itself, it clearly shows people can maintain their goodness even despite savagery abounding around them, even to the extent of giving their lives for it. That while people are corruptible, they don't have to be inherently evil. Unfortunately, the author himself felt quite the opposite.
This book is a mandatory read in US high school. The 1st time I read it, I just immigrated to NYC & became a sophomore, went through ESL & had some discrimination & slight bullying experience.
I gotta disagree with Mr. Green about the review of this book here, just for this once. I can tell Mr. Green has a kind heart & gentle soul, this book is too rough for his taste, otherwise, he wouldn't possibly write The Faults in Our Stars, which I read & watched the move, & cried my eyes out… thanks! LOL
This novel about human innate darkness totally made sense to me at age 16, still does & even more so at age 36 after experienced the society & saw the world for real as it is. Not everyone is born gentle & rational like Piggy. I personally witnessed bullying in elementary school, amongst little girls, just coz that bullied girl was ugly & not smart enough to get along with the rest of us, of course I didn't participate in the act, it didn't feel right for me then, yet I didn't do anything to stop it either. I was kinda in the popular league, so I understood what was going on & still remembered the whole thing at age 36 now. I didn't say or do anything to help that girl, other than feeling pity & sad of what was going on inside, I merely wished the bullying wouldn't happen to me, what if the rest of the popular league of girls turned on me if I helped out that bullied girl at the time.
Now I realize that this kind of mentality is exactly what caused & encouraged the bullying & killing in this book. And why bullying is unstoppable in school, at work, in society. It's as wrong as it's part of the social norm because it's part of human nature. At age 10, I fully realized how dangerous some humans can be & how to work with group thinking/herd mentality & the society has its rules that we need to watch out for if don't wanna get bullied/played.
In herd mentality, if one strong aggressive violent voice is agreed & supported by couple more, then you have a dominating lead amongst the rest, if the rest weaker ones do not agree or join, then they'd be taken out. That's how human relation works, how society majority wins, how war starts basically in history.
Given what little girls could do in elementary school under adults supervision, I'm not surprised those little boys went savage on a wild island. This book is as real as it gets…
Oh boy the times have changed
I didn't hate Lord of the Flies because it rang true to me and felt like Middle School when adults were not present. And given the depths of peer abuse accounts out there, even with adults a few rooms away, I think it's a realistic story. Kids have been pushed down stairs and tortured with curling irons by peers at schools. Take away any adult or government facto, and yes, that breakdown can easily happen faster.
It's one thing to get stranded on an island with your friend, family, or some groups you have voluntarily joined because you have similar values (The Mysterious Island where the men were on the same philosophical side), or be a part of a low tech island society with a long history and sense of culture. And another thing to be dumped in a strange place after a traumatic event (the plane crash where the adults/symbols of protection and authority died) with a group who you only have in common is your age an gender. It's a forced and unnatural group.
I think it's important to keep in mind that not all kids on the island succumb to their base instincts. We are still left with a sense of choice. But choosing not to participate isn't enough to save us from the base instincts of others.
Woodstock 99.