Lord of the Flies

I wanted to read ‘Lord of the Flies’ many years ago, but my Mom, not being too enthusiastic about it, took my interest as she described the book the following way: it’s about a bunch of kids shipwrecked on and island, slowly going crazy and killing each other off.

Well, not for the first time, her recommendation proved to be false. Actually it happened with ‘1984’ as well, but I managed to read it (in Hungarian, I must confess) in the beginning of this semester, and I happened to like it. I mean like it the way you might like ‘Iszony’ by László Németh or ‘Elbocsátó szép üzenet’ by Endre Ady. You are shocked, terrified and outraged by what you read, but at the same time you certainly admire and get amazed by the way it is written –by the incredible talent which could create something evoking deep and personal feelings. So simply said you might hate and love a book or poem at the same time.

But let’s get back to Golding and ‘Lord of the Files’. I’ve put it to my reading list, because the psychological reading made me very interested, and I have the dim feeling that there might be more in that book than my Mom said. xD

I often imagine being in such a situation: shipwrecked on an inhabited island, mainly since I watched ‘Battle Royal’ which is really about Japanese kids getting mad and slowly killing each other. I wonder how many hours would pass until I had a quarrel with somebody, because I tend to have the ‘teamwork is when everyone does what I say’ attitude. I fear and appeal to the situation at the same time, but the conditions of the island and the personality of the companions would have a big weight.

It drove me to the thought of Golding being wrong about this story. Not as it would have a mistaken psychological consequence, but because placing the story in the future. Golding supposed that there will be strong boy scouts and boys would be able to survive in the jungle: look for water, hunt, and light fire. Well, I’m quiet convinced that 8 out of 10 ordinary British (?) boys at the given age would have absolutely no idea what to do nowadays, and would not get killed but died of allergy or something miserable like eating mandragora or withdrawal symptoms of World of Warcraft. They wouldn’t have any idea about adventure either, because they don’t read anymore Robinson Crusoe or Treasure Island.

But they would surely enjoy it as a reality-show on TV, where they can decide about life and death. Hmm…not a bad idea…It's too bad I'm old fashioned enough to respect life and honour. :)