William Golding

Lord of the Flies follows a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited tropical island after a plane crash. Without adults to supervise them, the boys attempt to establish rules, distribute responsibilities, and organise their survival. Ralph advocates cooperation and order, while Jack becomes increasingly obsessed with hunting and personal power. As fear spreads and the boys become preoccupied with a mysterious beast they believe inhabits the island, their fragile society begins to collapse into violence. Golding uses their experience to examine the relationship between civilisation and human aggression, questioning whether social rules restrain darker impulses or merely conceal them. The novel explores leadership, fear, conformity, and the vulnerability of collective order, suggesting that the desire for power can destroy cooperation even among people who initially share the same goals.