"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

Over the past four years, I have read Lord of the Flies over sixteen times. I know, I know, I know, but I read it with each of my classes, and every time I read, I discover something new.

Students' depictions of characters from Lord of the Flies

Golding is one of the few authors who actually tells us why he wrote his novel and why the characters are all boys. His answers are so simple, and when I heard them, all I could do was laugh.

Golding stated that he wrote this book, because he was talking to his wife, and he told her that he should write a book about some boys on an island to show how they would really behave, instead of doing like most author who portray them as little saints. His wife stated that she thought that was a good idea. So, he wrote Lord of the Flies.

He stated that he wrote about boys because he was once a little boy, a brother, father, and he has never been sister, a mother, or a grandmother. He also stated that he wrote the novel with all male characters because he felt that little boys behave more like scaled down society than girls.

However, people who teach this novel tell students that Golding was in WWII and that he saw good people doing evil things. Seeing these evil things made him realize that we all have the capacity to be evil, and this is what he wanted to portray with this novel. Go figure!!!!!

With my students, I discuss the themes of loss of innocence, the human capacity for evil, the individual,  and the need for power.

Image from The Movie Lord of the Flies!

This year, I really thought a lot about the human capacity for evil. Do we ALL really have the capacity to do great evil? I really want to believe that most people do not, but........

Last week, I decided that I would replace my old Nook with a new Nook for a very simple reason; I wanted to be able to view all of my notes and highlights at one time. Ok, Ok, ok, but the new one was only $79.

Back to the story. So, all of my books instantly went to my new Nook once I registered it. I have been reading The One Year Bible where I am given passages of the Bible to read, everyday, for an entire year. I opened The One Year Bible on my new Nook, and lo and behold, the dates were not there. It downloaded incorrectly. I got on the phone to Nook support to try and straighten this out during my planning period, and I was on the phone for forty-five minutes, and the problem still did not get solved. I called again after work, and I really sounded like somebody that I did not recognize: "I am not going to be on this phone for forty-five minutes," "You better fixed this problem," blah, blah, blah? The problem still did not get solved.

In the mix of all of this, I realized that there was an ink pen mark on my new blue cover. I really got angry, even though, I somehow had made that mark myself.

My new Nook cover with the ink pen mark!

I called Nook support as I was on the way to Barnes and Nobel; somebody was going to fix this problem. I got into the store and I talked to the lady who worked in the Nook department, and I was going crazy: " I want my book fixed," "I want a new cover," etc. The lady who worked in Barnes and Nobel and I both were on the phone with Nook support..

Finally, I was told that they were going to give me a refund for the original book, and I should download and purchase the One Year Bible again.

At this point, I just couldn't stop myself even though the problem was solved. Now, I was concerned about that ink pen mark. I was told that they could not replace my damaged Nook cover. Why did she say that? I asked to see the manager, who was not there, and I said a whole bunch of other stuff. (Really!)

When I finally got in my car, I sat and Lord of the Flies came to my mine; do humans really have the capacity for great evil? I had to laugh at myself.