Lord of the Flies

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 1 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
QuitLORD OF THE FLIES

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 2 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
QuitLORD OF THE FLIES
a novel by
WILIAM GOLDING
G L O B A L VI L L A G E CO N T E M P O R A RY CL A S S I C S

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 3 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
QuitThis e-book was set with the help of KOMAScript and LaTeX

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 4 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
QuitContents
1 The Sound of the Shell 5
2 Fire on the Mountain 42
3 Huts on the Beach 65
4 Painted Faces and Long Hair 80
5 Beast from Water 106
6 Beast from Air 134
7 Shadows and Tall Trees 155
8 Gift for the Darkness 177
9 A View to a Death 207

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 5 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
Quit10 The Shell and the Glasses 221
11 Castle Rock 242
12 Cry of the Hunters 262

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 6 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
Quit1 The Sound of the Shell
The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and
began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his
school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to
him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long
scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering
heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of
red and yellow, ashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was
echoed by another.
“Hi!” it said. “Wait a minute!” The undergrowth at the side of the scar
was shaken and a multitude of raindrops fell pattering.
“Wait a minute,” the voice said. “I got caught up.”
The fair boy stopped and jerked his stockings with an automatic gesture
that made the jungle seem for a moment like the Home Counties.
The voice spoke again.
“I can't hardly move with all these creeper things.”
The owner of the voice came backing out of the undergrowth so that

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 7 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
Quittwigs scratched on a greasy wind-breaker. The naked crooks of his knees
were plump, caught and scratched by thorns. He bent down, removed
the thorns carefully, and turned around. He was shorter than the fair boy
and very fat. He came forward, searching out safe lodgments for his feet,
and then looked up through thick spectacles.
“Where's the man with the megaphone?”
The fair boy shook his head.
“This is an island. At least I think it's an island. That's a reef out in the
sea. Perhaps there aren't any grownups anywhere.”
The fat boy looked startled.
“There was that pilot. But he wasn't in the passenger cabin, he was up
in front.”
The fair boy was peering at the reef through screwed-up eyes.
“All them other kids,” the fat boy went on. “Some of them must have
got out. They must have, mustn't they?”
The fair boy began to pick his way as casually as possible toward the
water. He tried to be offhand and not too obviously uninterested, but the
fat boy hurried after him.
“Aren't there any grownups at all?”
“I don't think so.”
The fair boy said this solemnly; but then the delight of a realized am-
bition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and
grinned at the reversed fat boy.

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 8 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
Quit“No grownups!”
The fat boy thought for a moment.
“That pilot.”
The fair boy allowed his feet to come down and sat on the steamy
earth.
“He must have own off after he dropped us. He couldn't land here.
Not in a place with wheels.”
“We was attacked!”
“He'll be back all right.”
The fat boy shook his head.
“When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows. I
saw the other part of the plane. There were ames coming out of it.”
He looked up and down the scar.
“And this is what the cabin done.”
The fair boy reached out and touched the jagged end of a trunk. For a
moment he looked interested.
“What happened to it?” he asked. “Where's it got to now?”
“That storm dragged it out to sea. It wasn't half dangerous with all
them tree trunks falling. There must have been some kids still in it.” He
hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.
“What's your name?”
“Ralph.”
The fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer of

Home Page
Title Page
Contents
JJ II
J I
Page 9 of 290
Go Back
Full Screen
Close
Quitacquaintance was not made; the fair boy called Ralph smiled vaguely,
stood up, and began to make his way once more toward the lagoon. The
fat boy hung steadily at his shoulder.
“I expect there's a lot more of us scattered about. You haven't seen any
others, have you?”
Ralph shook his head and increased his speed. Then he tripped over a
branch and came down with a crash.
The fat boy stood by him, breathing hard.
“My auntie told me not to run,” he explained, “on account of my
asthma.”
“Ass-mar?”
“That's