Lord of the Flies (eng. Lord of the Flies) is the debut allegorical parabola novel by William Golding, English writer and Nobel Prize winner (1983), published in 1954. In the USSR, the novel was first published in Russian in 1969 in the magazine “Around the World”. The novel was intended as an ironic commentary on Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne (1858) is an adventure story in the genrerobinsonade that celebrates the optimistic imperial ideas of Victorian England. The novel did not attract attention immediately after its release (less than 3,000 copies were sold in the US during 1955), but a few years later it became a bestseller and was introduced into the curriculum of many colleges and schools by the early 1960s. In 2005, Time magazine named it one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923. From 1990 to 1999, the novel was ranked 68th on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most controversial books of the 20th century.
Storyline
During wartime, as a result of a plane crash, a group of children evacuated from England find themselves on a deserted island. Two leaders stand out among them: Ralph and Jack Meridew. (Their names are a reference to the famous book Coral Island, where the oldest of the three main characters were named Ralph and Jack.) The first one on the island met Piggy, a fat, asthmatic but sensible and clever boy with glasses; the second is the head of a church choir and an indisputable authority among choristers. After the election won by Ralph, Jack and his choristers proclaim themselves hunters.
Ralph suggests building huts and making a fire on the mountain so they can be spotted and saved. Everyone supports him. A fire is made with Piggy glasses. Soon, rumors appear that a certain “Animal (Snake)” lives on the island. The corpse of a paratrooper, moving because of the wind blowing up the parachute, gives a lot of food to children's imagination.
Jack and his hunters get wild pig meat. He's getting more and more out of Ralph's control. Finally, Jack separates himself from the tribe and invites the other boys to join his tribe, promising hunting, meat, and a different “savage” way of life on the island. He's going to live on the other side of the island. Some boys are going to pick him up. This is how a second tribe is formed.
Something like a primitive cult of the Beast and worship of him is emerging. Hunters delight him with victims and wild dances — staged hunting. In the midst of one such dance, having lost control, the “hunters” kill one boy, Simon.
Gradually, all children are becoming a “hunter tribe”. Ralph stays with Piggy and twins Eric and Sam. Only they still remember that the only chance to escape is to light fires in the hope of attracting rescuers. At night, Jack's group attacks Ralph and his friends to take Piggy's glasses. They are needed to produce fire to fry meat.
Ralph and the boys are heading to Jack in the hope of getting their glasses back. The savages kill Piggy by throwing a boulder off a cliff and capture the twins. Ralph is left alone. The hunt for him soon begins. Hunters, trying to smoke Ralph out of the jungle, set fire to trees. A fire starts.
Ralph, fleeing from spears thrown at him by other children, runs to the shore. At this time, after seeing smoke, military rescuers land on the island.
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