Lord of the Flies
Literary Classics

Lord of the Flies

William Golding 1954

The classic story of a group of English schoolchildren who are stranded on a depopulated island and must confront not only the defects of their society but also the defects of their own nature. Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, sparking passionate debate with its striking and brutal portrait of human nature. Although it was critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. However, it soon became a cult book among students and literary critics who compared it to The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger for his influence on modern thought and literature. Labeled as a parable, allegory, myth, morality tale, parody, political treatise and even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.

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Subjects

fiction, relationships, adventure, morality, survival, childhood, children, boys, ethics, castaway, shipwreck, regression, British and Irish fiction (single author works of fiction), psychological fiction, literature and fiction (general), English literature, death, suspense, interpersonal relationships, islands, castaways, good and evil, survival after plane crashes, shipwrecks, leadership, regression (psychology), interpersonal relationships in children, Zhang pian xiao shuo, moral conditions, Golding, william, 1911-1993, English literature, outlines, study programs, etc., History and criticism, Survival in a plane crash, Allegories, Psychological fiction, Survival in shipwrecks, Adventure stories, Human relations, Adventure and adventurers, Psychological aspects, FICTION/Classics, FICTION/Psychological, FICTION/Action and adventure places

Pacific Ocean, On an inhabited island, Island, England, El País, Ying guoShowing 10 featured editions. See all 191 editions?

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Job Description

Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The book focuses on a group of British children stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality.

The novel has been generally well received. It was named among the Modern Library's 100 best novels, peaking at number 41 on the publisher's list and 25 on the reader's list. In 2003, it was ranked 70th in the BBC's The Big Read poll, and in 2005 Time magazine named it one of the 100 best novels in English from 1923 to 2005. Time also included the novel in its list of the 100 best young adult books of all time. Popular reading in schools, especially in the English-speaking world, a 2016 UK survey found that Lord of the Flies ranked third among the country's favorite school books.

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