Lord Of The Flies

The story begins with a large number of young boys, ages 6 to 12, being stranded on a tropical island. They were being evacuated and their plane has been shot down. The first two characters introduced are Ralph, an athletic and charismatic boy with fair hair, and "Piggy," a fat boy with glasses who also suffers from asthma. The two boys obtain a conch and use it to call the other boys from across the island. The boys begin to discuss who should be their leader. Ralph is chosen by vote, but one other potential leader arises -- Jack Merridew. Jack was a choir leader, and still acts as leader of the other castaway members of his choir. Ralph is elected as leader but because Ralph senses the threat, he elects Jack to be the leader of the hunters (his choir). Piggy is the least popular of the boys, but is intelligent, and becomes Ralph's "lieutenant." However, it is evident that Jack covets the leadership position. Then, Ralph takes Jack and Simon to explore the island. During their exploration they find a trapped piglet. Jack pulls out a knife, but hesitates to kill it and it escapes. Jack vows never to hesitate again. Early on, the boys are full of optimism, and expect the island to be fun, despite the fact that many of the boys are scared of a "Beast" -- allegedly some kind of dangerous wild animal on the island seen by one of the younger boys with a birthmark on his face.

The boys then make their first attempt at being rescued by starting a signal fire, lit by Piggy's glasses. The fire burns without control, and scorches half of the island. The boy with a birthmark on his face who saw the Beast goes missing during the fire, and is never seen again.

The major characters Jack and Ralph have conflicting aims for the island, and life on the island begins to deteriorate, and becomes more and more disorganized. The island's descent into chaos starts, ironically, with the potential for rescue by a passing ship. Jack had led a group off hunting, and took with him the boys who were tending to the signal fire (the twins Sam and Eric, or "Samneric," as they become known), so the ship sailed past without knowing of the boys on the island. An intense argument ensues, in which one lens of Piggy's glasses is broken.

Although the signal fire is maintained along with a false sense of security, the order among the boys quickly deteriorates as Jack and Ralph continue to struggle for power. Jack pushes the boundaries of his subordinate role, and eventually becomes a tyrant.

As the novel takes place during a war, a dogfight between two planes occurs over the island. One of the pilots parachutes out of his plane, but dies upon or before landing. Sam and Eric assume that the pilot is the Beast when they see him in the dark, causing mass panic. An expedition to investigate leads to Ralph, Jack, and Roger, a choir boy, ascending the mountain, but they eventually run away from