Give me the conch! Now that ''I'm'' holding the conch, it's my turn to describe the book...

''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel written by William Golding. It is a {{Deconstruction}} of the KidsWildernessEpic. A plane full of British schoolboys [[RobbingTheCrusoe crashes on]] a DesertedIsland, and the darkness of humanity spills forth as they turn against each other.

It [[TheFilmOfTheBook had two cinematic adaptations]] and was referenced and parodied in various media. It's very popular for [[SchoolStudyMedia English Literature assignments]] in HighSchool on both sides of The Pond.

----
!!This work provides examples of:
* AdaptationDecay: The second movie. Ten minutes in, and several curse words and [[{{Squick}} sexual references]] afterwards, you can tell it's going to be a bumpy ride.
* AnAesop: The book was written just to say HumansAreBastards,HobbesWasRight, a TakeThat to all the RousseauWasRight works of the time.
** One which rather undermines itself, because the author didn't include female characters on the logic that the situations that render the aesop about humanity in general wouldn't come about with girls around.
*** And the extreme {{squick}}iness when rape time comes around (this is, after all, about a bunch of boys high on testosterone) would likely preclude the book's use in school.
* AnachronismStew:
** Since nuclear bombs exist and have been used, this places the novel after World War 2. However, since there's still a war, that can't be possible.
** Also, the British still think they're the greatest country on Earth. That wouldn't be true if the novel took place after the British Empire's post-WW2 collapse.But either the kids are too young to remember the Battle of Britain, or the novel takes place after the UK began to rebuild itself.
**''Lord of the Flies'' is actually set in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture the near future]] (of 1956), after a nuclear war between the USSR and Britain. This is mentioned by some of the boys in the book, although usually in passing.
* AnimalMotifs: A sow's head on a pike, slowly decaying, serves as the metaphor for the decay of children's morals, thus making them closer to hoglike greed.
* AnyoneCanDie: And it's far from pretty.
* BlindWithoutEm: Piggy.
* {{Break the Cutie}}: All the kids to some extent. In the case of Piggy and Simon, [[spoiler: Slaughter the Cutie]]. [[TearJerker Grab the tissues...]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: ''So'' freaking averted.
* CompleteMonster: Roger. Early on he was tormenting Littleuns for fun. He [[spoiler:killed Piggy]]. And he also threatened to have Sam N Eric ''impaled'' - that's what the "stick sharpened at both ends" was.
** No, pretty sure it was for [[spoiler: Ralph's head.]]
* DidNotDoTheResearch: This book is full of it. Rotting wood does not make smoke. Said wood can be lit in seconds with glasses. A small isolated island is capable of sustaining about fifteen boys for a few months.
** It is also hinted in chapter nine that [[spoiler: Simon's seizures]] are caused by pressure in his brain, though this could have been [[ScienceMarchesOn the common belief at the time]].
* CriticalResearchFailure: [[spoiler:Piggy's nearsightedness means his glasses couldn't make fire, thus negating his special usefulness *and* at least some of his victim status; if he'd had the opposite condition his glasses would be valuable but he wouldn't be nearly as crippled by their absence.]]
* DesertedIsland
* EnemyWithin: "Maybe there is no monster on the island. Maybe... it's just us..."
* EvilRedhead: Jack
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: As the months pass, all the boys' hair becomes long and shaggy (except for the wise Piggy's), and, especially for our hero, Ralph, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic starts obscuring their vision.]]
** SocietyMarchesOn / NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: Nobody's was to begin with?
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Aren't the children so precious, ''especially'' the chior
* HumansAreBastards: The book is the epitome of this trope.
* KidsAreCruel
* LampshadeHanging: [[spoiler:The officer who rescues them just as Ralph is about to be killed]] remarks, "Just like ''Coral Island'', eh?", with said book being one of the cheerier RousseauWasRight novels.
* TheMessiah: Simon, who understands a lot more than the other boys.
** This troper was taught that Simon was symbolic of Christ, what with him being close to nature and having a sacrificial death, etc. It made "Simon is Jesus!" a good inside joke for a few weeks in our English class.
* NamingConventions: At that time and place, the pupils should be on a LastNameBasis and Jack [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs insists]] on "Merridew", but everyone quickly accepts FirstNameBasis except for [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Piggy]], whose nickname started out as an insult.
* {{Narm}}: [[spoiler: Piggy's death]] in the 1960s film.
** In the 90s film as well. Especially the way Ralph screams "NOOO!" before it happens. When we watched it in class, everyone laughed and the teacher even rewinded it for us.
** Lucky. At least two classes have been yelled at by their teacher for laughing at it.
* OminousLatinChanting: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38d95F3UIg4 In the '63 movie]].
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Piggy.
* PsychicNosebleed: Simon and his feverish confrontation/hallucination with the pig's head.
* PsychoForHire: Roger, the sadistic "punisher" of the group. It's even implied he's going to cannibalize Ralph at the end. He starts out as the most quiet and intelligent in Jack's group, then he started developing sadistic tendencies.
* RobbingTheCrusoe
* {{Satan}}: "Lord of the Flies" is a literal translation of the Hebrew "Baalzevuv", root of the modern "Beelzebub".
** The ancient Philistines worshiped the lightning god Ba'al, referring to him as "Ba'al Zebûb", or "Lord of Zebûb". "Ba'al Zebûb" sounds very close to "Lord of the Flies" in Hebrew. The ancient Israelites used this fact to mock their enemies.
*ShirtlessScene: Most of the boys (except maybe Piggy) strip upon arrival.
*SpellMyNameWithAThe: [[BeamMeUpScotty Averted,]] it's 'Lord of the Flies,' not 'The Lord Of The Flies.'
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Most of the book was meant to be this. It's impossible to list every example, but that doesn't stop English teachers from trying.
** Here's a quick couple: at first, Jack insists on being called "Merridew" and leads a ''choir''. Eventually, after he discovers how to kill, his group degenerates into savagery. Sound similar to the story of [[{{Satan}} anyone we know]]? Oh, and the [[spoiler:spectral corpse on the mountain that terrifies everyone]] is the Shadow of War, [[spoiler:harmless in fact (the pilot is dead), but terrifying to look at]].
** This troper particularly enjoyed them, ahem, [[FreudWasRight 'spearing' a mother pig]].
* TheWoobie: Simon. Oh god, Simon.
** Please don't forget Piggy. He actually hates that nickname, but even Ralph insists on calling him that. ''We never learn his actual name.''

----
<<|{{Literature}}|>>

And whatever you do, we ''mustn't let the fire go out.''