My first book on my agenda was Lord of the Flies. I remember reading this book in middle school English, and sharing the fear and disgust of the stranded boys. I anticipated in re-reading it that the same ideas would come across: it poses the question of the potential for savagery within all of us. However, after having developed my analysis skills, this book speaks to me on that theme and more.
For those of you that haven't read it, I highly recommend this book. It is a very short story, almost a novella. In a way, it almost reminds me of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but I think that is because it is by a British writer, there are British boys with British dialogue, and they are in a foreign and unknown land, experiencing the animals within themselves. Other than that, it is drastically different.
Basic plot summary: a plane crashes with a bunch of boys on it, appearing to be on a field trip of some sort. There are very young school boys, a group of choir boys, and children that are of the same age but have never met before. These boys must find a way to survive on the island without the care of adults, as well as formulate a plan to be rescued. As always, conflict and mutiny ensues, and the group is divided into tribe and diplomats: those who want to retain their ties to civilization, and those who do not.
Protagonists Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon serve the most governing roles over the story. There are other boys, such as Roger, Sam an Eric (twins, who soon share one name), and supplementary "youngin's", but these characters serve to fill out the different entities. Ralph is the first boy we meet, and is the son of a Navy man; athletic, blonde, and altrusitic. Piggy is next, he is overweight, striken with asthma (assmar!) and limited by spectacles. He lives with his auntie because his family is torn. Those two characters are the only ones whom we get to see the influence of their families, however, it lends considerable weight to their characters and motivation. Jack is the head boy and choir leader, and so feels the need to be in power. When elected leader of the choir "army" and hunters, his lust for power combined with his insatiable bloodlust consumes his soul. Eventually, this leads to the split of tribe and diplomacy. Simon is my personal favorite, as he is small, dark, often unnoticed, but has the most insight of all characters. He enjoys sneaking off on his own because he is subject to what appear to be seizures or fainting fits ("episodes"). The time spent on his own allows him to connect with the jungle; he sees the pigs head and has a conversation with it, he sees the "beastie" and realizes it is a corpse trapped in a parachute, and he is killed early in the text for this knowledge.
All of these characters have representation and symbolism attached to their beings. Piggy is the most obvious; he is the embodiment of the comforts of civilization. His body was not made for the physical work on the island, however, he constantly speaks of reason and logic, providing Ralph with tactical ideas. Ralph also is reason and good intention, and his tie to the military suggests his attempt to maintain order with assemblies, the conch as a leadership tool, and dominating strategy to be rescued by sea. Jack represents the savage within all humans, as he is probably the oldest (being head boy), and is the most easily affected by the cutthroat pleasures of hunting (literally cutthroat). Simon, finally, has been compared to Christ in the past, and whether you believe that or not, he undoubtedly has some Biblical appeal. With this codex of characters, it is easy to follow the story as it marks the path from organization to pure tribal warfare. The death of Simon and later Piggy are both symbolic shifts along the way.
The next book in my list appears to be "P", which leads me to Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago. I have never read this text, but it has been on my list for as long as I can remember.
