"Book Talk: Lord of the Flies"

Summary/Description:

Lord of the Flies is about a group of British schoolboys who become stranded on a deserted island due to a plane crash. The plane was shot down during an unknown war (it is based on the Cold War though) and many people died, but a few boys survived and are now stranded. This group of boys has to figure out how to survive and be rescued and they have absolutely no adult supervision on the island. In order to survive, they decide they should elect leaders for their group in order to stay organized and a boy named Ralph is selected as their main leader. They also elect other boys to be in charge of certain other duties such as, hunting, building shelter, finding food, and watching the fires that they create. Ralph uses a conch shell throughout the story in order to “call” to the other boys. The conch shell sounds like a horn and all the boys learn that when they hear the conch shell, it means they must all meet up. One of the ideas that the boys have is to start a fire in order to signal boats or planes that may see it and rescue them. Later on, a boat passes by and doesn’t stop. The boys realized that someone wasn’t attending or watching the fire and that it began to burn out.  This causes a lot of anger and hostility among the boys and problems begin to arise. The boys begin to argue and not get along. One of the boys, Jack, tries to overthrow Ralph as their leader.  At first, it doesn’t work.  The boys, being as young as they are, start becoming scared.  They think that there is a beast on the island. A parachutist jumped out of a plane and died and the boys mistake him for the beast so they all decided to search the island for “the beast”. On their search, they find a pig and decided they need to kill it for food.  Ralph manages to stab the pig, and the boys become so excited that they reenact the killing of the pig on one of the boys named Robert.  The boys become so into their reenactment that they end up stabbing Robert, almost to death, and forgetting that it was only pretend. Jack becomes jealous once again of Ralph being leader and wants to be his own leader. None of the boys agree, so Jack becomes angry and leaves. Jack leaves the group and later a few other boys end up deciding to leave and join him as well. The hunters in Jack’s group kill a pig, and prop his head up on a stick where it becomes surrounded by flies.  Many of the boys think that they can hear the head, as if it is talking to them, and it becomes their “lord”.  This is where the title Lord of the Flies comes from. A boy named Simon goes off into the wilderness alone one night and discovers the parachute that everyone thought was a beast, to actually just be a man.  He goes to tell the other boys, but being that it is dark and they are delusional, they don’t recognize him and begin to attack him.  Simon is killed. Jacks group then becomes obsessed with finding the beast.  They become obsessed with attacking and they go and beat up Ralph and another member of his group, Piggy. They steal Piggy’s glasses, which are used to make the fires.  Ralph becomes angry and him and Jack meet up and fight for leadership. Piggy stands off to the side, and a rock is pushed on him and he is killed.  Ralph then becomes frightened and knows that Jack’s group will not stop until they kill him.  He has to run and hide from the boys. Ralph stays in hiding for a while, but then he decides he has to come out of hiding and try to find a way out.  He goes to the beach and passes out, and when he wakes up, there is a naval officer.  Jack’s group runs to the beach to get Ralph and then they see the officer as well.  All the boys begin to cry once they realize that they are being rescued.  The story ends with the officer turning around and letting the boys cy and compose themselves. 

Rationale:

In my practicum classrooms, the kids are constantly asking for opinions on books to read and ways that they can get AR points.  Recently, one of the kids asked me what book he should read and Lord of the Flies is the first book that came to mind.  He had never heard of the book and I was really surprised!  He ended up reading it in just a few days and told me how much he loved it, so this is the main reason that I chose this book for the book talk.  Also, when I was in high school it was my absolute favorite book that I was required to read.  I read it in 9^th grade and I remember it was one of the only books that I actually enjoyed and wanted to keep reading, being that I wasn’t a big reader back then. I know that a lot of my peers felt this way as well.  I think this book has a lot of meaning behind it and it is an interesting and intriguing book that many students would enjoy. The book is actually ranked at 5^th grade reading level, so it isn’t too hard of a text to read, but I think students need to be in at least junior high to read it. I think 9^th grade would be a perfect time to actually require it and teach a unit on it though. I think it is a perfect book for this group of students because it is a great way to segue students into deeper and more emotional texts. High school reading books include a lot more emotional aspects than elementary and most middle school books and I think Lord of the Flies is a great way to introduce these types of texts to our students.

Obstacles:

Although this book is nothing short of amazing, it definitely has some challenges to it as well.  One main obstacle is that this book is pretty brutal and dark. The students reading this book might not be used to this sort of reading, so it could be hard for certain students to read.  I think what we have to keep in mind when assigning this book is that it is going to be more emotional for some students than others. This book doesn’t have that much inappropriate content, but it does use Gods name in vain, the boys say “damn you” a few times, and there is some detailed killings and fights. This shouldn’t be a problem with high school students, but I think it would be important to let the students know there are a few parts in the book that some students might take more offense to than others.  Another challenge might be that students may not grasp any deep meaning out of the text.  I think that this book can bring a lot of meaning and values to students, but if we as teachers aren’t making sure they understand that, then the book might come off boring or with no significant value.  If I am going to assign a book to my students, I want to make sure that the book has value and meaning to it.  In order for the students to find the value in Lord of the Flies, we have to be really good at teaching and discussing it.  I don’t think administrators would have a problem with this book being taught, for I know that it was a required reading at my high school.  Parents, on the other hand, could have some disagreements with the teaching of this book. If we explain to them the content of the book and why we are teaching it though, I don’t think it will cause a problem.  As for the students, I think they will love and enjoy the book and have a lot of discussion about it.

Teaching Ideas:
If I were to teach and have my students read this book, I would definitely want my students to read it together as a class.  I think discussions throughout this book would be very important, so I would try to integrate discussions with every chapter.  I think it would be a good idea to have students answer chapter questions that relate to facts about the book, but also to their opinions.  I then would have the students share their discussions with one another or with the whole class.  This would be a great way to make sure the students understand the book and also to see what they are thinking about it. Another way that this book could be used in teaching is to have the students read it and then create a project on it. This book symbolizes a lot of different things. Students could get into groups and create a presentation on what they think each character and object in the story symbolizes and then share it with the class.  (For example, Ralph symbolizes leadership).  The students could present the information in any way they want, and I think this would be a great way to bring students to a deeper understanding and meaning of the book. A third way that I think this book could be taught is to follow the characters in the story.  Throughout the book, the students could have assignments and activities that focus on characters that they were assigned.  They would have to see how certain situations and dialogue shape the characters personality. This would help them to grasp a better understanding of character development.