“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think?”
The students of an English private school survive a terrible plane crash and find themselves alone, without adults, on a tropical atoll. White and uncontaminated beaches, palm trees, natural water pools, trees full of succulent fruits... the little island is a real paradise! The kids quickly realize that they are alone and take the opportunity to finally enjoy the freedom and have fun as much as they want without any impositions or duties from grownups. Ralph, one of the older boys from the school, gathers all the survivors by blowing into a giant shell found on the beach. The kids soon understand the need to establish some rules in order to survive and the need to find someone who could take care of the group. They call for an election to vote for a leader. Ralph seems to be the most mature boy and immediately gets everyone's votes. With the help of Piggy, a loyal and smart kid who is a victim of heavy mockeries from the other boys, he establishes some rules to ensure everyone gets the right to express their opinion. They establish that the sound of the conch is a call for a new assembly and that possession of the conch is the right to speak during the assemblies. During one of his speeches, Ralph decrees that the absolute priority of the group is to set up a fire and keep it always active so that they could be spotted by a potential passing ship. A second need of the group is to build shelters where the younger boys can find comfort and security during the nights, the only moment of the day when they cry and miss home. Third, everyone must regularly collect fresh water in coconut shells and put the shells near the shelters so that everyone can drink fresh water at any time. Fourth, they need to establish suitable places to use as bathrooms to avoid making everything dirty from the diarrhea caused by wild fruits. The kids, both big and small, willingly accept all these tasks and, without realizing it, rebuild the structure of a democracy. On that small paradise atoll, they find a balance between fun, survival, and rules. However, as time passes, the balance becomes precarious. The youngest kids are lazy and only think about playing. The older ones start to quarrel among themselves. Jack disagrees with Ralph: he doesn't care about keeping the fire alive. He just wants to go hunting with his choir companions (they called themselves “the hunters”) and kill the wild pigs in the forest. The disputes between Jack and Ralph begin to escalate. The hunters are bloody and violent and start a slow revolt against Ralph and Piggy. The precariousness of the balance is further aggravated by a strong suspicion of the presence of a dangerous beast on the island. The tension builds up and is palpable in the air. The young kids are, at this point, completely terrorized by the beast; the older ones are violent and prone to fighting. Ralph and Piggy are the only ones who keep on trying to have a conversation and be rational. The straw that breaks the camel's back is the sudden murder of one of the kids by the hunters. "I'm scared. I'm afraid of us. I want to go home!" whispers exhausted Ralph to his friend Piggy. The murder is a no-turning-back event, and the boys break into two groups. On one side, there is Ralph seeking dialogue and reason; on the other, there is Jack with the hunters, violent and cruel. A big question remains suspended in the minds of all the other boys: "What is better, law and salvation, or hunting and barbarism?". In the end, the boys (not all of them) are rescued by a navy ship. The ship's officer is shocked by the conditions in which he finds the boys and expresses his disappointment at seeing the state of disgrace in which English boys from a private school ended up when left on their own.
The story starts as a nice and pleasant tale but soon becomes a report of a real struggle for survival. The pace is engaging from the first page, and the simplicity of the story, although rich in symbolism, makes the book accessible to everyone. Golding uses these boys to send a strong warning message: the balance dictated by reason is precarious and much weaker than the balance dictated by violence. This is a constant lesson of human existence.