Table of Contents

Introduction
A summary of the plot
What is Lord of the Flies about?
How does Golding show that small children are by nature cruel?
Are there signs in the novel that Golding did not really believe in original sin?
Why are Ralph and Jack enemies?
Is Lord of the Flies a religious novel?
What remains in the published version of the religious novel Golding originally wrote?
How religious is the published version of the novel?
Why is the novel called Lord of the Flies?
Is Lord of the Flies realistic about human behaviour?
Is Lord of the Flies about social class?
Did Golding have a real-life model in mind for Piggy?
Is Lord of the Flies a political novel?
What is the point of Roger?
Why is there no sex in Lord of the Flies?
What is special about Golding's style in Lord of the Flies?
What does the arrival of the naval officer add to the novel's meaning?

About the Author

John Carey is a British literary critic and Emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at Oxford University. His books include The Intellectuals and the Masses, What Good Are the Arts?, and William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies. His memoir, The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life in Books was published in 2014.