Lord of the Flies

by William Golding. Of course, I read this in high school, but just like 1984 I probably had no appreciation for it. I read it in an afternoon. I've been in a dystopian mood lately, so this goes along with that. I marked just a few passages:

The first time they go hunting: "He raised his arm in the air. There came a pause...The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be...[he paused] because the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood."

Roger sneaks up on Henry and starts to throw stones: "The stone bounced five yards to Henry's right and fell in the water. roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible, yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child  was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."

In the afterward, Golding discusses his novel: "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back  to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable."

I agree with Golding's views. The young boys follow Jack, even when he resorts to theft and murder. Just a few of them hold out and fight what they know is wrong. I see this in real life - people blindly follow religious and political ideologies, finding comfort in their numbers, and are unwilling to fight when their group does things that as individuals they would not do.


I also read a fiction book called "While England Sleeps" by David Leavitt. Interesting book, written as a memoir of someone looking back on a time years later. It is about class and sexuality issues in the years leading up to WWII in England.