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this book。 Supplementing them are two interviews with Golding in which he discusses both his own conception of the novel and related matters。4
Through our arrangement of and notes to the articles； we have tried to reflect the intricate texture of the novel as illustrated by the critics and to point up areas of perplexity and disagreement。 The bibliography at the close of the volume indicates possibilities for further reading and study。
Introduction
JAMES R。 BAKER
Lord of the Flies offers a variation upon the ever…popular tale of island adventure； and it holds all of the excitements mon to that long tradition。 Golding's castaways are faced with the usual struggle for survival； the terrors of isolation； and a desperate out finally successful effort to signal a passing ship which will return them to the world they have lost。 This time； however； the story is told against the background of an atomic war。 A plane carrying some English boys； aged six to twelve； from the center of conflict is shot down by the enemy and the youths are left without adult pany on an unpopulated Pacific island。 The environment in which they find themselves actually presents no serious challenge： the island is a paradise of flowers and fruit； fresh water flows from the mountain； and the climate is gentle。 In spite of these unusual natural advantages； the children fail miserably and the adventure ends in a reversal of their （and the reader's） expectations。 Within a short time the rule of reason is overthrown and the survivors regress to savagery。
During the first days on the island there is little forewarning of this eventual collapse of order。 The boys are delighted with the prospect of some real fun before the adults e to fetch them。 With innocent enthusiasm they recall the storybook romances they have read and now expect to enjoy in reality。 Among these is The Coral Island； Robert Michael Ballantyne's heavily moralistic idyll of castaway boys； written in 1858 yet still； in our atomic age； a popular adolescent classic in England。 In Ballantyne's tale everything es off in exemplary style。 For Ralph； Jack； and Peterkin （his charming young imperialists）； mastery of the natural environment is an elementary exercise in Anglo…Saxon ingenuity。 The fierce pirates who invade the island are defeated by sheer moral force； and the tribe of cannibalistic savages is easily converted and reformed by the example of Christian conduct afforded them。 The Cord Island is again mentioned by the naval officer who es to rescue Golding's boys from the nightmare they have created； and so the adventure of these enfants terribles is ironically juxtaposed with the spectacular success of the Victorian darlings。2 The effect is to hold before us two radically different pictures of human nature and society。 Ballantyne； no less than Golding； is a fabulist 3 who asks us to believe that the evolution of affairs on his coral island models or reflects the adult world； a world in which men are unfailingly reasonable； cooperative； loving and lovable。 We are hardly prepared to accept these optimistic exaggerations； though Ballantyne's story suggests essentially the same flattering image of civilized man found in so many familiar island fables。 In choosing to parody and invert this image Golding posits a reality the tradition has generally denied。
The character of this reality is to be seen in the final episode of Lord of the Flies。 When the cruiser appears offshore； the boy Ralph is the one remaining advocate of reason； but he has no more status than the wild pigs of the forest and is being hunted down for the kill。 Shocked by their filth； their disorder； and the revelation that there have been real casualties； the officer （with appropriate fatherly indignation） expresses his disappointment in this 〃pack of British boys。〃 There is no basis for his surprise； for life on the island has only imitated the larger tragedy in which the adults of the outside world attempted to govern themselves reasonably but ended in the same game of hunt and kill。 Thus； according to Golding； the aim of the narrative is 〃to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature〃； the moral illustrated is that 〃the shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable。〃4 And since the lost children are the inheritors of the same defects of nature which doomed their fathers； the tragedy on the island is bound to repeat the actual pattern of human history。
2。A longer discussion of Golding's use of Ballantyne appears in Carl Niemeyer's 〃The Coral Island Revisited。〃 See pp。 217…223 in this volume。
3。See John Peter's 〃The Fables of William Golding〃 on pp。 229…234 of this volume。 A less simplistic view is offered by Ian Gregor and Mark Kinkead…Weekes in their Introduction to Faber's School Edition of Lord of the Flies reprinted on pp。 235…243 in this volume。
The central fact in that pattern is one which we； like the fatuous naval officer； are virtually incapable of perceiving： first； because it is one that constitutes an affront to our ego； second； because it controverts the carefully and elaborately rationalized record of history which sustains the ego of 〃rational〃 man。 The fact is that regardless of the intelligence we possess…an intelligence which drives us in a tireless effort to impose an order upon our affairs…we are defeated with monotonous regularity by our own irrationality。 〃History；〃 said Joyce's Dedalus； is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake。〃 5 But we do not awake。 Though we constantly make a heroic attempt to rise to a level ethically superior to nature； our own nature； again and again we suffer a fall…brought low by some outburst of madness because of the limiting defects inherent in our species。
If there is any literary precedent for the image of man contained in Gelding's fable； it is obviously not to be found within the framework of a tradition that embraces Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson6 and includes also those island episodes in Conrad's novels in which the self…defeating skepticism of a Heyst or a Decoud serves only to illustrate the value of illusions。7 All of these offer some version of the rationalist orthodoxy we so readily accept； even though the text may not be so boldly simple as Ballantyne's sermon for innocent Victorians。 Quite removed from this tradition； which Golding invariably satirizes； is the directly acknowledged influence of classical Creek literature。 Within this designation； though Golding's critics have ignored it； is an obvious admiration for Euripides。8 Among the plays of Euripides it is； The Bacchae that Golding； like Mamillius of The Brass Butterfly； knows by heart The tragedy is a bitter allegory on the degeneration of society； and it contains the basic parable which informs so much of Golding's work。 Most of all； Lord of the Flies； for here the point of view is similar to that of the aging Euripides after he was driven into exile from Athens。 Before his departure the tragedian brought down upon himself the mockery and disfavor of a mediocre regime like the one which later condemned Socrates。 The Bacchae； however； is