Lord of the Flies (1963)
I hardly ever completed the assigned reading in high school, especially if I didn't like the teacher. My passive-aggression against the teacher usually came out in two forms: repeated tardiness and not reading. Both just negatively affected my grade.
I had to read 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding in 9th grade and hardly made an attempt at it. I loved my teacher, but I just couldn't get myself to care about these boys on a deserted island. A couple weeks ago I referenced 'Lord of the Flies' in a conversation and later remembered that I had never actually read it. So, I brought it and 'The Culture of Fear' (a book I didn't read for my Conspiracies class junior year of college) out to the beach this past week.
I can't say I enjoyed reading it, but the book was very interesting because of what it says about humanity. Reading the end notes was immensely helpful. In the notes, William Golding describes the theme of the book, and what his point was in writing it. Here you go:
"The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable."
Whoa dang. This is especially interesting paired with my 'The Culture of Fear' book, which, being of the viewpoint of most sociology books (that I've read), blames individual unhealthy behavior on the societal institutions that place people in bad situations. Who is right? Both?
that picture isn't the 1963 version. it's the 1990 version idiot. it's not hard to figure out the difference
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