COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE
, LORD OF THE FLIES SUMMARY
During an unnamed time of war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the
Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted
on an uninhabited island, where they are alone without adult supervision. The first two boys introduced are
the main protagonists of the story: Ralph is among the oldest of the boys, handsome and confident,
while Piggy, as he is derisively called, is a pudgy asthmatic boy with glasses who nevertheless possesses a
keen intelligence. Ralph finds a conch shell, and when he blows it the other boys gather together. Among
these boys is Jack Merridew, an aggressive boy who marches at the head of his choir. Ralph, whom the
other boys choose as chief, leads Jack and another boy, Simon, on an expedition to explore the island. On
their expedition they determine that they are, in fact, on a deserted island and decide that they need to
find food. The three boys find a pig, which Jack prepares to kill but finally balks before he can actually stab
it.
When the boys return from their expedition, Ralph calls a meeting and attempts to set rules of order for the
island. Jack agrees with Ralph, for the existence of rules means the existence of punishment for those who
break them, but Piggy reprimands Jack for his lack of concern over long-term issues of survival. Ralph
proposes that they build a fire on the mountain which could signal their presence to any passing ships. The
boys start building the fire, but the younger boys lose interest when the task proves too difficult for them.
Piggy proves essential to the process: the boys use his glasses to start the fire. After they start the fire, Piggy
loses his temper and criticizes the other boys for not building shelters first. He worries that they still do not
know how many boys there are, and he believes that one of them is already missing.
While Jack tries to hunt pigs, Ralph orchestrates the building of shelters for the boys. The smallest boys
have not helped at all, while the boys in Jack's choir, whose duty is to hunt for food, have spent the day
swimming. Jack tells Ralph that he feels as if he is being hunted himself when he hunts for pigs. When
Simon, the only boy who has consistently helped Ralph, leaves presumably to take a bath, Ralph and Jack
go to find him at the bathing pool. But Simon instead is walking around the jungle alone. He finds a serene
open space with aromatic bushes and flowers. freestar
The boys soon settle into a daily pattern on the island. The youngest of the boys, known generally as the
"littluns," spend most of the day searching for fruit to eat. When the boys play, they still obey some sense
of decency toward one another, despite the lack of parental authority. Jack continues to hunt, while Piggy,
who is accepted as an outsider among the boys, considers building a sundial. A ship passes by the island but
does not stop, perhaps because the fire has burned out. Piggy blames Jack for letting the fire die, for he and
his hunters have been preoccupied with killing a pig at the expense of their duty, and Jack punches Piggy,
breaking one lens of his glasses. Jack and the hunters chant, "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in" in
celebration of the kill, and they perform a dance in which Maurice pretends to be a pig and the others
pretend to attack him.
Ralph becomes concerned by the behavior of Jack and the hunters and begins to appreciate Piggy's
maturity. He calls an assembly in which he criticizes the boys for not assisting with the fire or the building of
the shelters. He insists that the fire is the most important thing on the island, for it is their one chance for
rescue, and declares that the only place where they should have a fire is on the mountaintop. Ralph admits
that he is frightened but says that there is no legitimate reason to be afraid. Jack then yells at the littluns
for their fear and for not helping with hunting or building shelters. He proclaims that there is no beast on
the island, as some of the boys believe, but then a littlun, Phil, tells that he had a nightmare and when he
awoke saw something moving among the trees. Simon says that Phil probably saw Simon, for he was
walking in the jungle that night. But the littluns begin to worry about the beast, which they conceive as a
ghost or a squid. Piggy and Ralph fight once more, and when Ralph attempts to assert the rules of order,
, LORD OF THE FLIES SUMMARY
During an unnamed time of war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the
Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted
on an uninhabited island, where they are alone without adult supervision. The first two boys introduced are
the main protagonists of the story: Ralph is among the oldest of the boys, handsome and confident,
while Piggy, as he is derisively called, is a pudgy asthmatic boy with glasses who nevertheless possesses a
keen intelligence. Ralph finds a conch shell, and when he blows it the other boys gather together. Among
these boys is Jack Merridew, an aggressive boy who marches at the head of his choir. Ralph, whom the
other boys choose as chief, leads Jack and another boy, Simon, on an expedition to explore the island. On
their expedition they determine that they are, in fact, on a deserted island and decide that they need to
find food. The three boys find a pig, which Jack prepares to kill but finally balks before he can actually stab
it.
When the boys return from their expedition, Ralph calls a meeting and attempts to set rules of order for the
island. Jack agrees with Ralph, for the existence of rules means the existence of punishment for those who
break them, but Piggy reprimands Jack for his lack of concern over long-term issues of survival. Ralph
proposes that they build a fire on the mountain which could signal their presence to any passing ships. The
boys start building the fire, but the younger boys lose interest when the task proves too difficult for them.
Piggy proves essential to the process: the boys use his glasses to start the fire. After they start the fire, Piggy
loses his temper and criticizes the other boys for not building shelters first. He worries that they still do not
know how many boys there are, and he believes that one of them is already missing.
While Jack tries to hunt pigs, Ralph orchestrates the building of shelters for the boys. The smallest boys
have not helped at all, while the boys in Jack's choir, whose duty is to hunt for food, have spent the day
swimming. Jack tells Ralph that he feels as if he is being hunted himself when he hunts for pigs. When
Simon, the only boy who has consistently helped Ralph, leaves presumably to take a bath, Ralph and Jack
go to find him at the bathing pool. But Simon instead is walking around the jungle alone. He finds a serene
open space with aromatic bushes and flowers. freestar
The boys soon settle into a daily pattern on the island. The youngest of the boys, known generally as the
"littluns," spend most of the day searching for fruit to eat. When the boys play, they still obey some sense
of decency toward one another, despite the lack of parental authority. Jack continues to hunt, while Piggy,
who is accepted as an outsider among the boys, considers building a sundial. A ship passes by the island but
does not stop, perhaps because the fire has burned out. Piggy blames Jack for letting the fire die, for he and
his hunters have been preoccupied with killing a pig at the expense of their duty, and Jack punches Piggy,
breaking one lens of his glasses. Jack and the hunters chant, "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in" in
celebration of the kill, and they perform a dance in which Maurice pretends to be a pig and the others
pretend to attack him.
Ralph becomes concerned by the behavior of Jack and the hunters and begins to appreciate Piggy's
maturity. He calls an assembly in which he criticizes the boys for not assisting with the fire or the building of
the shelters. He insists that the fire is the most important thing on the island, for it is their one chance for
rescue, and declares that the only place where they should have a fire is on the mountaintop. Ralph admits
that he is frightened but says that there is no legitimate reason to be afraid. Jack then yells at the littluns
for their fear and for not helping with hunting or building shelters. He proclaims that there is no beast on
the island, as some of the boys believe, but then a littlun, Phil, tells that he had a nightmare and when he
awoke saw something moving among the trees. Simon says that Phil probably saw Simon, for he was
walking in the jungle that night. But the littluns begin to worry about the beast, which they conceive as a
ghost or a squid. Piggy and Ralph fight once more, and when Ralph attempts to assert the rules of order,
