History YMMV / LordOfTheFlies

* FanPreferredCouple: Fanfiction and fanart seem to prefer Jack/Ralph (Jalph) most of the time, even though there is fanwork with other couples too, like Roger/Simon, Jack/Roger, Ralph/Piggy, and Ralph/Simon.
** Sam/Eric for twincest fans.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: As said above, Golding went for an all-male school because he believed that, had the book included both boys and girls, a realistic story would have inevitably focused on their budding sexuality. However, it's easy to argue that his intended topics, those of colectivity, morality and politics, would have only strengthened from including it, if anything because even non-Freudian psychology and antropology regard sex as another ubiqutious factor in human society. (Of course, it deters from using this idea that, with all the realistic implications and possible outcomes, doing so could have potentially turned an already dark story into something even darker.)

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: The book was written just to say HumansAreBastards and HobbesWasRight, a TakeThat to all the RousseauWasRight works of the time. Some have read it as a [[FairForItsDay slightly friendlier]] {{a|nAesop}}esop against the racial stereotypes of the era, showing that under the wrong circumstances even British schoolboys can fall into savagery just as easily as any "inferior" cultures.

* BrainBleach: Ralph appears to be in need of some at the end of the book, and the audience might want some too.

* FanPreferredCouple: Fanfiction and fanart seem to prefer Jack/Ralph (Jalph) most of the time, even though there is fanwork with other couples too, like Roger/Simon, Jack/Roger Ralph/Piggy and Ralph/Simon.

* WeirdAlEffect: Far fewer people remember the works (such as Creator/JulesVerne's ''Two Years' Vacation'' and R. M. Ballantyne's ''Coral Island'') that ''Lord of the Flies'' was parodying than they do ''Lord of the Flies'' itself. The fact that it ''was'' a DeconstructiveParody in the first place is also not well-known.

** Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a... less than pretty debate. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

** When news of an all female remake was announced, there was quite a bit of backlash with the (mostly female) detractors arguing that the book was about male power and that women "[[WomenAreWiser aren't going to act like that]]" when stranded on an island. The detractors point to Golding's intent and statements about [[MenAreStrongWomenArePretty aggressive boys and more fragile girls]] as proof of his themes. However, Golding's viewpoint comes across as outdated since more critical looks on gender, its roles and even the nature of the binary would question his simple and essentialist worldview, especially given that women are now more integrated into male professions and roles, while men who espouse survival of the fittest are viewed as "[[TheSocialDarwinist toxic]]". In essence, the modern day perception is that men and women are more likely to be the product of the environment that raises them, which could also fit the theme of the story. While the biological aspects of wherever this would work or not, or if social integration is enough to override binary pre-dispositions are up for debate, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment let's leave that to the experts since no one really has an answer yet.]]

** Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a... less than pretty debate.[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

* MisaimedFandom: A recurrent idea that emerges from time to time is how a similar story would have played out with a mixed cast of boys and girls. This was addressed by Golding himself, who gave an explanation of why he went for an all-male crew (although one could still think his reasons to do so are debatable themselves and don't take all the interest away from the idea).

** Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a... less than pretty debate. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

* FoeYay: Quite a lot, between Jack and Ralph. One particular quote: ''Now it was Ralph's turn to flush but he spoke despairingly [...] "Why do you hate me?" The boys stirred uneasily, as though something indecent had been said. The silence lengthened.''

* ToyShip: All of the named characters in the book are, at most, just ''barely'' pubescent. For some reason, this doesn't seem to stop the fandom shipping them in every possible combination.

* OneTruePairing: Depending on the preference: Jack/Ralph is for those who like a love/hate romance, Ralph/Simon for those who love a cute, wholesome romance, Roger/Simon has the psycho bad boy get with the island angel. Lastly Jack/Roger for those who are into dark romance between two psychos.

* OneTruePairing: Depending on the preference: Jack/Ralph is for those who like a love/hate romance, Ralph/Simon for those who love a cute, wholesome romance, and Jack/Roger for those who are into a psycho dark romance between two psychos.

* FanficFuel: None of the boys' pasts is revealed in the book (except for some details about Ralph and Piggy), nor is their fate after the island.
* FanPreferredCouple: Fanfiction and fanart seem to prefer Jack/Ralph (Jalph) most of the time, even though there is fanwork with other couples too, like Roger/Simon, Jack/Roger and Ralph/Simon.

** Ralph and Jack. While Ralph is no saint himself, he definitely is one of the most innocent boys on the island, especially when compared to Jack. Ralph turns from an immature kid into a kind and considerate boy, not to mention that he is completely broken in the end, while Jack starts the same as Ralph, but he goes into the opposite direction, as he becomes even more malicious, abusive and sadistic in the end. Ralph also represents the civil, moral part of the human mind, while Jack represents the primal instincts, the darkest, most savage part. Then there is the whole blonde hair-red hair contrast which strengthens this implication, as older beliefs considered fair hair to be of good will, while red hair was supposed to suggest evil.

** Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a... less then pretty debate. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

** Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a...less then pretty debate. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

* MisaimedFandom: A recurrent idea that emerges from time to time is how a similar story would have played out with a mixed cast of boys and girls in the plane. This was addressed by Golding himself, giving an explanation of why he went for an all-male crew (although his reasons to do so are subject of ValuesDissonance, so the whole notion might sound more like a case of TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot today).

** When news of an all female remake was announced, there was quite a bit of backlash with the (mostly female) detractors arguing that the book was about male power and that women "aren't going to act like that" when stranded on an island. The detractors point to Golding's intent and statements about aggressive boys and more fragile girls as proof of his themes. However, Golding's viewpoint comes across as outdated since more critical looks on gender, its roles and even the nature of the binary would question his simple and essentialist worldview, especially given that women are now more integrated into male professions and roles, while men who espouse survival of the fittest are viewed as "toxic". In essence, the modern day perception is that men and women are more likely to be the product of the environment that raises them, which could also fit the theme of the story. While the biological aspects of wherever this would work or not, or if social integration is enough to override binary pre-dispositions are up for debate, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment let's leave that to the experts since no one really has an answer yet.]]

* WeirdAlEffect: Far fewer people remember the works (such as ''Two Years Vacation'' and ''Coral Island'') that ''Lord of the Flies'' was parodying than they do ''Lord of the Flies'' itself. The fact that it ''was'' a DeconstructiveParody is also not well-known.

* BrokenBase: Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a...less then pretty debate. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

** "Sucks to your ass-mar."[[labelnote:Explanation]]Ralph's {{catchphrase}} every time Piggy brings up his asthma.[[/labelnote]]

* SignatureLine: Ralph's {{Catchphrase}} "Sucks to your ass-mar" is easily the most quoted line of the book.

** "I can sing C sharp."
** "Sucks to your ass-mar."

** The frenzied, hysterical killing of [[spoiler:Simon]] by Jack and the other boys comes dangerously close to it. It's finally crossed (and in a very symbolic way) when Roger pushes a massive boulder down on [[spoiler: Piggy]], sending him flying off the cliff and to his death.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: "[[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months The real Lord of the Flies]]" involved six schoolboys in 1965 who stole a boat and were shipwrecked on the rocky island of 'Ata for 15 months. Unlike the novel published a decade earlier, the boys cooperated well, began each day with song and prayer, let a boy who broke his leg rest until he made a full recovery, and remained in excellent physical condition until they were rescued. The boys even kept a perpetual fire going throughout their entire shipwreck, unlike the boys in the novel who came to blows when they couldn't. After they were rescued, the man who owned the stolen boat pressed charges and they were arrested, but one of the boys had the brilliant idea to raise bail money by calling a TV station in Sydney and convincing them to create a documentary about their adventure.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: This book may be the ur-example of "just because it's about children doesn't mean it's for children." This mistake isn't usually made by native English speakers because of its cultural impact, but there have been cases of the book being included in English as a foreign language reading programmes for kids, presumably because the curriculum developers heard "literary classic" and "kids on a desert island" and stopped paying attention.

* AwesomeMusic: Usually considered the best part about the 1990s film adaptation

* MisaimedFandom: A recurrent idea that emerges from time to time is how a similar story would have played out with a mixed cast of boys and girls in the plane. This was addressed by Golding himself, giving an explanation of why he went for a all-male crew (although his reasons to do so are subject of ValuesDissonance, so the whole notion might sound more like a case of TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot today).

* BrokenBase: Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a...less then pretty debate. [[TheRuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

* BrokenBase: Any mention of a genderbent version of the film will result in a...less then pretty debate. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that.]]

* BrokenBase: Any mention of a genderbent version of the film is sure to summon someone to inform you that it wouldn't work because [[BlatantLies women would never turn on each other or do horrible things in a desperate situation.]] Needless to say, the resulting debates aren't pretty.

** Of course, another camp believes that the book's view on HumansAreTheRealMonsters is outdated as a whole and that HumansAreGood when faced with peril, preferring cooperation to hostility.