Resumo de Lord Of The Flies

WARNING: The following translation includes descriptions of several key parts of the plot.

Lord of the Flies follows the story of a group of English
children, who are stranded on a secluded island and are forced to create a society and a moral standard, which are based solely on the children themselves. Throughout the story, William Golding demostrates the different personality traits and social behaviours which exist in every modern society. By examining the childrens' world, we are able to understand a nation's desire for a strong, centralistic and anti-democratic leader.
Each child in the story represents certain personality traits which can be found in any single person, as well as social traits, which characterize any society or group of people. Golding uses a large number of motifs in order to demostrate man's ability to choose evil, and ruin that which was given to him: The childen landed in a pastoral setting, a veritable Garden of Eden. Yet throughout the story we observe a moral decline, or deterioration, which ends with the children burning down the island and destroying the society which they might have otherwise created.
The prominent motif is a representation of qualities, so that each character represents certain human qualities and leadership traits.
The first leader to present himself is Ralph, who represents democracy. Ralph is democratically elected, and founds a democratic debate system, based on the shell. By being the one who wishes to keep the fire burning so that search & rescue parties might find them ,Ralph represents the voice of reason, and rational thought.
The opposite of Ralph is found in Jack, who represents dictatorship, and a strong leader, as well as representing animalism, and succumbing to primal urges. As head of the hunting party, he kills and maims, whilst inciting all the other kids to mutiny against the old world - the world of adults - which is represented by Ralph.
Another interesting character in the story is Roger. In the beginning, Roger does not stand out from the crowd, but after joining the hunting party, headed by Jack, Roger becomes hurtful and violent. Roger symobolizes the people whose hearts are captured by the strong leader, thus turning them into a defeated , easily incited nation. In addition, he represents the dormant violent nature which exists in every one of us. A point of interest is that Roger is the one who breaks the shell, thus ending the struggle between the leaders, leaving Jack as the sole leader of the children.
The last character, which signifies more than any other the moral decline of the children of the island, is Simon. Simon did not choose a side in the struggle, and stayed pure and neutral. He represents the naivette which may be found in each of us. When the children kill Simon they are actually killing their own innocence and goodness, and so they complete their transformation from children to savages.
William Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 and his book The Lord of the Flies is on the required reading list for the matriculation exams of many countries, including Israel.

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