After Sam and Eric report possibly seeing the beast atop a
Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning
author William Golding about a group of British
schoolboys stuck on a deserted island who try to
govern themselves, with disastrous results. Its
stances on the already controversial subjects
of human nature and individual welfare versus
the common good earned it position 68 on
the American Library Association’s list of the 100
most frequently challenged books of 1990–1999.
[1]
In 2005, the novel was chosen by TIMEmagazine
as one of the 100 best English-language novels
from 1923 to 2005[2] and was awarded a place on
both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels,
reaching #41 on the editor's list, and #25 on the
reader's list.
Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies was Golding’s
first novel. Although it was not a great success at
the time—selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the
United States during 1955 before going out of print
—it soon went on to become a best-seller, and by
the early 1960s was required reading in many
schools and colleges. It was adapted to film in 1963
by Peter Brook, and again in 1990 by Harry Hook.
Plot summary
In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British plane
crashes onto an isolated island. The only survivors are
male children below the age of 13.[4] Two boys, the fair-
haired Ralph and an overweight,bespectacled boy
reluctantly nicknamed "Piggy" find a conch which Ralph
uses as a horn to bring all the survivors to one area. Two
dominant boys emerge during the meeting: Ralph and
Jack Merridew, a redhead who is the leader of a choir
group that was among the survivors. Ralph is voted chief,
losing only the votes of Jack's fellow choirboys. Ralph
asserts two goals: have fun, and work towards a rescue by
maintaining a constant fire signal. They create the fire
with Piggy's glasses, nearly catching the whole island on
fire, and, for a time, the boys work together.
Jack organises his choir group into the group's "hunters",
who are responsible for hunting for meat. Ralph, Jack,
and a black-haired boy named Simon soon become the
supreme trio among the children. Piggy, the most sensible
of the bunch, is quickly outcast by his fellow "biguns"
(older boys) and becomes an unwilling source
of mirth for the other children. Simon, in addition to
supervising the project of constructing shelters, feels an
instinctive need to protect the younger boys.
The original semblance of order imposed by Ralph
quickly deteriorates as the majority of the boys turn idle.
Around the same time, many of the younger boys begin
to believe that the island is inhabited by a monster,
referred to as "the beast". Jack gains control of the
discussion by boldly promising to kill the beast. At one
point, Jack summons all of his hunters to hunt down
a wild pig, including those who were supposed to be
maintaining the fire. A ship approaches, but passes by
because the signal fire has gone out. Although the
hunting of the pig turns out to be the hunters' first
successful catch, Ralph is infuriated that they have
missed a potential rescue. Later, Ralph envisages
relinquishing his position, though Piggy discourages him
from doing so while the two of them and Simon yearn
hopefully for some guidance from the adult world.
mountain, Ralph and Jack investigate; they encounter
the corpse and the open parachute of a fighter pilot who
has landed on the island and mistake it as "the beast"
asleep. Jack assembles the children with the conch and
confirms the beast's existence to them. The meeting
results in a schism, splitting the children into two groups.
Ralph's group focuses on preserving the signal fire. Jack
becomes the chief of his own tribe, which focuses on
hunting while exploiting the iron-clad belief in the beast.
As Jack and the hunters have already slain their first pig,
they offer promises of meat, fun, and protection from the
beast. Jack's tribe gradually becomes more animalistic,
applying face paint to liberate their inner savages while
they hunt. The face paint becomes a motif which recurs
throughout the story, with more and more intensity
toward the end.
Simon, a part of Ralph's tribe, who had "cracked" and
gone off looking for the beast by himself, finds the head
of the hunters' dead pig on a stick, left as an offering to
the beast. Simon envisions the pig head, swarming
with scavenging flies, as the "Lord of the Flies" and
believes that it is talking to him. Simon hears the pig
identifying itself as the real "Beast" and disclosing the
truth about itself—that the boys themselves "created" the
beast, and that the real beast was inside them all. Simon
also locates the dead parachutist who had been mistaken
for the beast, and is the sole member of the group to
recognise that it is a cadaver instead of a sleeping
monster. Simon attempts to alert Jack's tribe that the
"beast" is nothing more than a cadaver. While trying to
tell Jack's tribe of this fact, Simon is caught in a ring
during a primal dance and Jack's tribe kills him, with
Ralph, Piggy, Sam, and Eric in the ring also. Ralph,
Piggy, Sam, and Eric later try to convince themselves that
they did not take part in the murder.
Jack's tribe then raids Ralph's camp to steal Piggy's
glasses. Ralph's tribe journeys to Jack's tribe at Castle
Rock to try to retrieve the glasses. In the ensuing
confrontation, Roger drops a boulder aiming at Piggy.
Piggy dodges the boulder, but the conch is smashed into
pieces, Piggy flies through the air and falls forty feet onto
the rocks below by the sea, killing him. Sam and Eric are
captured and tortured into joining Jack's tribe. Ralph is
forced to flee.
The following morning, Jack leads his tribe on a manhunt
for Ralph. However, the fire and smoke attracts the
attention of a nearby warship. Then a naval officer lands
on the island near where Ralph is lying, and his sudden
appearance brings the children's fighting to an abrupt
halt. Upon learning of the boys' activities, the officer
remarks that he would have expected better from British
boys, initially believing them only to be playing a game.
In the final scene, although now certain he will be
rescued after all, Ralph cries.
Animal Farm is
a dystopian allegorical novella by George Orwell.
Published in England on 17 August 1945, the book
reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin
era before World War II. Orwell, a democratic socialist,
[1]
was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-
directed Stalinism, especially after his experiences with
the NKVD, and what he saw of the results of the
influence of Communist policy ("ceaseless arrests,
censored newspapers, prowling hordes of armed police" -
"Communism is now a counter-revolutionary force"),
[2]
during the Spanish Civil War. In a letter to Yvonne
Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as his novel
"contre Stalin".[3]
The original title was Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, but
the subtitle was dropped by the US publishers for its 1946
publication and subsequently all but one of the
translations during Orwell's lifetime omitted the addition.
Other variations in the title include: A Satire and A
Contemporary Satire.[3] Orwell suggested for
the French translation the title Union des républiques
socialistes animales, recalling the French name of
the Soviet Union, Union des républiques socialistes
soviétiques, and which abbreviates URSA, which is
the Latin for "bear", a symbol of Russia.[3]
Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best
English-language novels (1923 to 2005);[4] it also places
at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-
Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in
1996 and is also included in the Great Books of the
Western World.
The novel addresses not only the corruption of the
revolution by its leaders but also how wickedness,
indifference, ignorance, greed and myopia destroy any
possibility of a Utopia. While this novel portrays corrupt
leadership as the flaw in revolution (and not the act of
revolution itself), it also shows how potential ignorance
and indifference to problems within a revolution could
allow horrors to happen if smooth transition to a people's
government is not satisfied.
Plot summary
Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, calls the
animals on the farm for a meeting, where he compares
the humans to parasites and teaches the animals a
revolutionary song, "Beasts of England".
When Major dies three days later, two young
pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and turn
his dream into a philosophy. The animals revolt and drive
the drunken and irresponsible Mr. Jones from the farm,
renaming it "Animal Farm".
The Seven Commandments of Animalism are written on
the wall of a barn. The most important is the seventh,
"All animals are equal." All the animals work, but
the workhorse, Boxer, does more than others and adopts
the maxim — "I will work harder."
Snowball attempts to teach the animals reading and
writing; food is plentiful; and the farm runs smoothly.
The pigs elevate themselves to positions of leadership
and set aside special food items ostensibly for their
personal health. Napoleon takes the pups from the farm
dogs and trains them privately. When Mr. Jones tries
retaking the farm, the animals defeat him at what they
call the "Battle of the Cowshed." Napoleon and Snowball
struggle for leadership. When Snowball announces his
idea for a windmill, Napoleon opposes it. Snowball
makes a speech in favour of the windmill, whereupon
Napoleon has his dogs chase Snowball away. In
Snowball's absence, Napoleon declares himself leader
and makes changes. Meetings will no longer be held and
instead a committee of pigs will run the farm.
Using a young pig named Squealer as a mouthpiece,
Napoleon announces that Snowball stole the idea for the
windmill from him. The animals work harder with the
promise of easier lives with the windmill. After a violent
storm, the animals find the windmill annihilated.
Napoleon and Squealer convince the animals that
Snowball destroyed the windmill, although the scorn of
the neighbouring farmers suggests the windmill's walls
were too thin. Once Snowball becomes a scapegoat,
Napoleon begins purging the farm, killing animals he
accuses of consorting with Snowball. Meanwhile, Boxer
takes up a second maxim: "Napoleon is always right."
Napoleon abuses his powers, making life harder for the
animals; the pigs impose more control while reserving
privileges for themselves. The pigs rewrite history,
villainizing Snowball and glorifying Napoleon. Squealer
justifies every statement Napoleon makes, even the pigs'
alteration of the Seven Commandments of Animalism.
"No animal shall sleep in beds" is changed to "No animal
shall sleep in beds with sheets" when the pigs are
discovered to have been sleeping in the old farmhouse.
"No animal shall drink alcohol" is changed to "No animal
shall drink alcohol to excess" when the pigs discover the
farmer's whisky. "Beasts of England" is banned as
inappropriate, as according to Napoleon the dream of
Animal Farm has been realized. It is replaced by an
anthem glorifying Napoleon, who appears to be adopting
the lifestyle of a man. The animals, though cold, starving,
and overworked, remain convinced
through psychological conditioning that they are better
off than they were when ruled by Mr. Jones. Squealer
abuses the animals' poor memories and invents numbers
to show their improvement.
Mr. Frederick, one of the neighbouring farmers, swindles
Napoleon by buying old wood with forged money, and
then attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up
the restored windmill. Though the animals win the battle,
they do so at great cost, as many, including Boxer, are
wounded. Boxer continues working harder and harder,
until he collapses while working on the windmill.
Napoleon sends for a van to take Boxer to the
veterinarian, explaining that better care can be given
there. Benjamin the donkey, who "could read as well as
any pig",[5] notices that the van belongs to "Alfred
Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler", and
attempts to mount a rescue; but the animals' attempts are
futile. Squealer reports that the van was purchased by the
hospital and the writing from the previous owner had not
been repainted. He recounts a tale of Boxer's death in the
hands of the best medical care. Shortly after Boxer's
death, it is revealed that the pigs have purchased more
whisky.
Years pass, and the pigs learn to walk upright, carry
whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are
reduced to a single phrase: "All animals are equal, but
some animals are more equal than others." Napoleon
holds a dinner party for the pigs and the humans of the
area, who congratulate Napoleon on having the hardest-
working animals in the country on the least feed.
Napoleon announces an alliance with the humans, against
the labouring classes of both "worlds". He abolishes
practices and traditions related to the Revolution, and
reverts the name of the farm to "Manor Farm".
The animals, overhearing the conversation, notice that the
faces of the pigs have begun changing. During a poker
match, an argument breaks out between Napoleon and
Mr. Pilkington when they both play the Ace of Spades,
and the animals realize that the faces of the pigs look like
the faces of humans and no one can tell the difference
between them.