Lord Of The Flies
By William Golding
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Lord Of The Flies by William Golding ranked # 41 on The Modern Library's Top 100 Novels list as selected by its Board Members.
Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. It was Golding's first novel, and was published in 1954. Although it was not a great success at the time -
selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States during 1955
before going out of print - it went on to become a bestseller, and
required reading in many schools and colleges. It was adapted to film
in 1963 by Peter Brook, and again in 1990. The title is a reference
to Beelzebub, a synonym for the Devil, or, as in Paradise Lost, one
of Satan's chief minions.
Many people have interpreted "Lord of the Flies" as a work on moral
philosophy. The environment of the island, a paradise with all the
food, water, and all the necessities, can be seen as a metaphor for
the Garden of Eden. The first appearance of the "beastie" is that of
a serpent, as evil appears in the Book of Genesis, the irony being
that the only evil on the island is the boys themselves.
One of the major themes of the book is on the nature of evil. This is
clearly seen in the conversation that Simon holds with the head of
the pig, which is known as "The Lord of the Flies" (a literal
translation of the Hebrew name of Ba'alzevuv, or Beelzebub) which is
a powerful demon in hell, sometimes believed to be the devil. The
conversation held also points to Simon as the character representing
religion and good will in the novel, which is reminiscent of the
temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
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