Lord Of The Flies Summary

Lord Of The Flies Introduction

Lord of the Flies is set during World War 2 on a tropical island in the Coral Sea. A group of boys survive a plane crash and are left stranded on a deserted island with no adults. At first the boys cling to the principles and laws they were taught during their upbringing. They call a meeting where they establish rules, set jobs, and democractically vote for a leader.

Ralph, Jack And Piggy Summary

The boy who receives the most votes is named Ralph and he becomes the leader of the boys on the island. Ralph is the main protagonist of the story. The boy who received the second most votes is named Jack and he is the main antagonist of Lord of the Flies. Jack leads a group of choir boys. After Ralph becomes leader he designates Jack and the choir boys to be the hunters in order to pacify them. For the time being Ralph and Jack have a friendly relationship.

The second protagonist of Lord of the Flies is a boy named Piggy. Piggy is a nerdy boy who wears glasses and thinks rationally and wisely. Ralph and Piggy immediately become friends and remain allies through the rest of their time on the island. The boys use Piggy's glasses to light a fire on the island.

The Conch In Lord Of The Flies

Ralph also found a conch earlier and the boys view it as a symbol of authority. Whenever the conch is blown, the boys meet together and only the boy holding the conch may talk while all others must listen and wait for their turn when the conch is passed to them. The boys also build a signal fire to hopefully alert passing ships. The hunters take responsibility for keeping the signal fire alight at all times.

Summary Of The Beast And The Breakdown Of The Tribe

As Lord of the Flies progresses into the middle section the boys begin to lose their discipline and indulge in laziness and hedonism. This is the beginning of the breakdown of their before civilized society. The boys also start to believe in a "beast" hidden away somewhere on the island which stalks them. As time goes on the boys become more paranoid about the beast.

One day as Ralph is on the beach he notices a ship passing by on the horizon. He frantically races up the mountain only to find that the signal fire has not been kept alight and so the boys miss their chance to be rescued. When Ralph confronts the hunters about the missed opportunity they respond with little care, acting more interested in their hunting. As the book goes on Jack's group of hunters take on a more tribal appearance as they paint their faces and perform wild dances and chants.

Soon after this a fighter plane is shot down and the dead pilot's body floats down by parachute onto the island where it gets stuck in the trees. Later on the boys mistake this for the dreaded beast and mass fear and panic sets in.

Summary Of The Tribe Split

Back at camp Jack rebels against the leadership of Ralph and tries to have himself made chief. When he fails he storms off taking the older boys with him to create another tribe. They perform a hunt where they kill a wild pig and stick its head on a pike as a sacrifice for the beast.

Simon's Death Summary

Later on a boy named Simon encounters the pig's head. As Simon looks at the pig's head it begins to talk to him in a hallucination. At this point Simon realises that there is no beast roaming the island. The real beast is the evil within their own hearts that the boys have been gradually giving in to. He also sees that what they mistook for the beast in the trees was really the dead parachutist.

As Simon races back to tell of his discovery, the rest of the boys are enjoying a feast. To overcome the fear caused by a storm that starts up they begin a tribal dance and work themselves into a frenzy. Once they see Simon they mistake him for the beast and in their frenzy they beat him to death. Even Ralph mistakes Simon for the beast and takes part in the killing. However unlike Jack's tribe, Ralph feels guilt afterwards and is repentant.

Death Of Piggy, Rescue And Conclusion Of Lord Of The Flies

After this event, Ralph and Piggy go to Jack's tribe, who have stolen Piggy's glasses in a raid, to try to reason with them. Ralph tries to use the conch as a symbol of authority but the boys no longer respect it. From up on the cliff above them a boy named Roger pushes a boulder over the edge and onto Piggy. Piggy is killed and the conch is shattered.

Terrified, Ralph flees from Jack's tribe. Ralph is then hunted by Jack's tribe who sets the island on fire to smoke him out. Ralph desperately flees to the beach where he runs into a British naval officer. Ironically the fire had been seen by a passing ship and results in the boys being rescued from the island.