Lord of the Flies
By William Golding
Allegory
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1: Sound of the Shell
1. This is the first time Piggy and Ralph meet
2. Piggy finds the conch, and Ralph uses it to get everyone to come
3. Ralph establishes himself as leader among the others.
4. Jack is unable to kill a pig in the forest.
Chapter 2: Fire on the Mountain
2. The boys build a fire
3. The fire goes out of control
4. The littlun with the birthmark dies
Chapter 3: Huts on the Beach
2. Ralph and others start to build huts on the beach
3. The huts are never completed due to laziness
4. Ralph and Jack begin having tense relations
Chapter 4: Painted Faces and Long Hair
2. The littluns talk about this "beast" on the island
3. Jack goes to hunt for the pig yet again, but this time he kills it
4. The hunters do a weird dance and chanting, showing their descent into savagery
Chapter 5: Beast from Water
2. One of the littluns says that he saw the beast
3. Jack promises to hunt down and kill the beast
4. Ralph considers relinquishing his leadership
Chapter 6: Beast from AIr
2. Sam and Eric see the parachutist and mistake him for the beast
3. Ralph calls a meeting to discuss what Sam and Eric saw
4. The boys become whimsical, but Ralph scolds them for it
Chapter 7: Shadows and Small Trees
2. The boys go to hunt, and Ralph gets very excited
3. The boys almost kill Robert
4. Jack claims to have seen the beast
Chapter 8: Gift for the Darkness
2. Ralph goes into a depression after Jack leaves
3. Jack makes a new tribe, and they create the Lord of the Flies
4. Simon wanders in the jungle, where the Lord of the Flies "talks" to him
Chapter 9: A View to a Death
2. Piggy and Ralph dance in Jack's dance due to peer pressure
3. The boys see what they think is the beast in the distance during their dance
4. They run at it and kill it, but later it turns out to be Simon
Chapter 10: The Shell and the Glasses
2. Jack makes headquarters at Castle Rock
3. Jack rules as a dictator in his tribe
4. Jack orders a raid on Ralph's camp, and they beat him up badly
Chapter 11: Castle Rock
2. He says that they must go to Castle Rock to talk to Jack
3. Ralph and Jack get in a fight with each other over Piggy's glasses
4. Roger throws a boulder at Piggy, making him fall off the cliff and die
Chapter 12: Cry of the Hunters
2. Ralph hides from Jack and his tribe in the jungle
3. Jack decides to set the island on fire
4. Ralph and the tribe is saved by the British captain
Characters
1. Ralph- first leader of the boys on the island, but ended up losing power to Jack, and was then almost killed
2. Jack Merridew- wanted to be leader of the island, so he did that by putting fear in people, and offering food and fun
3. Simon- a Christ-like character who would go into the jungle, and he discovered who the real beast was. He was killed off by the others
4. Piggy- nerdy boy who was very intelligent, and Ralph’s best friend. His glasses started the first fire, but by the end he fell off a cliff and died
5. Maurice- boy who stepped on some littlun's sand castles, but felt bad after the fact
6. Roger- sadistic boy that had completely let go and totally gave into his animalistic nature
7. littluns- the group of small children that were the weakest on the island; most stayed with Ralph
8. Samneric- twins that had warned Ralph about Jack’s plan to kill him; stayed with Ralph through the whole story
9. Henry- the oldest littlun on the island
10. Percival- one of the youngest littluns
11. British Officer- naval officer that came and rescued the boys on the island
Symbols
1. conch shell- order
2. clothing (school sweaters)- civilization
3. hair and face paint- primal nature of the boys
3. the fire- a spark of civilization
4. Piggy’s eyeglasses- intelligence
5. pig’s head on stick (Lord of the Flies)- evil behavior within us all
6. creepers (jungle vines)- represent's the boys future conflicts
7. imagery of wounds (scar, gashes in trees, lightning and thunder)- boy's violent behavior
8. the pig hunts- violence of humans
9. huts- a step towards civilization
10. jungle (darkness)- it symbolizes nature, peaceful and untouched by man
11. the mountain- it represents a chance for rescue, as the fire was lit there
Biblical Motifs
2. The Lord of the Flies is a causer of evil, therefore he could be connected to a demon or even Satan himself.
3. Simon is like Jesus, in some senses. He is the first to discover the truth of the beast, and he is a very kind and loving person. He was also killed because of what he knew.