The Lord of the Flies

Content Ratings

No Romance

There is no romantic content; the novel is entirely composed of male characters.

Intense Themes

The novel sustains themes of mob mentality, the fragility of civilization, violence as an innate human tendency, the persecution of the intellectually and physically different, and the traumatizing loss of innocence.

High Violence

A boy is murdered by the group in a frenzied mob attack; another child is killed when a boulder is deliberately dropped on him; a third character is hunted as prey; violence escalates from bullying to tribal killing with increasing graphic intensity.

Synopsis

A group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island after a plane crash attempt to govern themselves, but their fragile social order breaks down as fear, tribalism, and violent impulses overwhelm the veneer of civilization. The novel watches as the boys descend into brutality, tracing the terrifying ease with which order collapses when external authority is removed. A dark and disturbing allegory about human nature.