War

In many ways, war is the central theme of Lord of the Flies; the experience of the boys on the island is an allegory for the adult war taking place ‘off the page’. Golding was inspired by World War II and subsequent events in creating the novel, as he wrote in ‘Fable’: ‘after the war […] I had discovered what one man could do to another’. The plane that crashes on the island is taking the boys to safety following the outbreak of nuclear war, and their attempt in creating civilisation ends in disaster, because of a battle for power. The war on the island is only halted by the arrival of the Naval Officer who is currently engaged in his own war, seemingly oblivious to the parallels. Golding here exposes the dangers of totalitarianism – a political system where opposition is not allowed – and the needless human cost of warfare.