Review from a Transgressive Fiction Fan
In Lord of the Flies Golding deconstructed civilization, wiping it out and showing us our world in chaos. It’s not pretty. Man without governance is apt to slide into savagery. At first the castaway children on this deserted isle set up rules and leadership, but law and order is overwhelmed when the majority discover there is no immediate consequence if they give in to their wants and desires. In the place of civility, a brutal world is born in which might is right, the weak are stamped out, and the female voice all but silenced (Piggy’s frequent references to his auntie).
Golding pounded away at that theme, so much so as to rankle some readers who criticize the book’s heavy-handed use of cardboard cut-out stereotypes to force the author’s point across. I don’t deny it, but in this instance I’m okay with it because I found the outcome, depressing and disheartening as it is, satisfying as a statement and, the whole, enjoyable as a fully contained tale. Surely the characters could’ve been invested with deeper background, which would have added greatly to the story in detail as well as pages. Both are unessential, for the intended purpose is served…Golding held the conch and Lord of the Flies is what he had to say.
“Insightful” Review from a Mainstream Reader
I really really hate this book. It is so disturbing. Why do we make children read this? Ugh.