“He wanted to explain how people were never quite what you thought they were.”
Source: Lord of the Flies
Quotes from book
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Nobel Prize–winning British author William Golding. The book focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality.
“This is our island. It's a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we'll have fun.”
Source: Lord of the Flies
“the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.”
Source: Lord of the Flies (1954), Ch. 11: Castle Rock - The first edition used the term "painted niggers", later editions changed this to "painted savages" or "painted Indians".
Context: Ralph heard the great rock long before he saw it. He was aware of a jolt in the earth that came to him through the soles of his feet, and the breaking sound of stones at the top of the cliff. Then the monstrous red thing bounded across the neck and he flung himself flat while the tribe shrieked.
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, travelled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. The rock bounded twice and was lost in the forest. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across that square, red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig's after it has been killed. Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone.
This time the silence was complete. Ralph's lips formed a word but no sound came.
Suddenly Jack bounded out from the tribe and began screaming wildly.
"See? See? That's what you'll get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe for you any more! The conch is gone —"
He ran forward, stooping.
"I'm Chief!"
“The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.”
Source: Lord of the Flies
Source: Introduction to his reading https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYnfSV27vLY of Lord of the Flies in the unabridged audio version (1980)
“If faces were different when lit from above or below -- what was a face? What was anything?”
Source: Lord of the Flies
Source: Lord of the Flies (1954), Ch. 6: Beast from Air.
Source: Lord of the Flies (1954), Ch. 8: Gift for the Darkness
Source: Lord of the Flies (1954), Ch. 5: Beast from Water
Source: Lord of the Flies (1954), Ch. 7: Shadows and Tall Trees
Source: Lord of the Flies (1954), Ch. 4: Painted Faces and Long Hair.
