Lord of the Flies: A story of controversy

What is 'Lord of the Flies' about?

Lord of the Flies was written in 1954 by William Golding, about a group of school boys whose plane crashes on a desert island in the midst of a raging war. The boys are alone without adults, and their quickly formed society falls into ruins when a number of the boys imagine a 'beast' living on the island, and the whole group falls into an animalistic, tribal, homicidal insanity. They are driven to murder and violence, which did not go down well in public opinion. According to the American Library Association, it is one of the most frequently challenged books in circulation.

Who started the controversy around 'Lord of the Flies', who else wanted to ban it, and what were their reasons?

Lord of the Flies was first challenged by a school in Dallas in 1974. It was constantly challenged throughout the 1980’s, mainly by schools in the United States, being flagged with alleged themes of violence, animalism, bad language, racism and profanity. Generally, these schools found the book inappropriate for the age of their students, and therefore removed it from their reading lists and libraries. But it was also, challenged by black parents, because of racist, defamatory and demoralizing content. 

The church challenged it too, because it depicted religion as a non-civilizing factor, as the boys were religious, and violence was determined by superstition and rightness.

How successful were people in banning ‘Lord of the Flies’?

The majority of the public challenging the book were schools or educational organizations, so the necessary actions they needed to take to stop their students reading them did not need a legal ban. But they still challenged the books, but it was not officially banned. All other challengers, although providing reasonably strong cases, got close to banning the book in the United States, but the book was kept on the Bloomfield reading list.

Are there any censorships or bans still in place today?

Currently, there are not any direct bans or censorships of the novel, but the original film was initially rated an 18, because of violence, nudity and punishment scenes, which were cut out in many countries. The irony of this was, the actors in the film were not actually 18 when they made the film, so they could not watch the film they just made. The film has been censored more widely, because it is a visual interpretation of a book that is one of the most frequently challenged there is. The themes in the book are controversial to start with, so to put them in a form where they are much easier to interpret and visualize, there will be a much higher risk of censorship, bans, and public disapproval.

Do I agree with any of these attempted bans?

No I don’t. I have studied Lord of the Flies at school, which is now part of the Common Entrance English syllabus, and I think that it contains many moral lessons that should be taught to students from the appropriate age. It contains lessons about human nature, the fragility of civilization, and how easily it can be corrupted. It also proves the capability of the human mind and body, it proves how ideas and images can drive even young boys to cruelty and murder. I think these concepts are portrayed in an excellent style of literature and language, and I believe it is an essential book to read, as it is really a revelation to literature.