Popular reading in schools, especially in the English-speaking world, a 2016 UK poll saw Lord of the Flies ranked third in the nation's favourite books from school. Time also included the novel in its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time. In 2003 it was listed at number 70 on the BBC's The Big Read poll, and in 2005 Time magazine named it as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It was named in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor's list, and 25 on the reader's list. The novel has been generally well received. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality. The book focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. With its candle-buds, serene stillness, and leafy walls, it recalls a place of worship.Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. There are strong religious overtones in Golding's description of the area that Simon finds. His excursion shows that he is the one character having an affinity with the natural world. Unlike Ralph, who seeks to protect the group from nature, and Jack, who seeks to conquer and control it, Simon views the natural landscape as a place of beauty and tranquility. The open space that he settles into in the jungle is an indication that, for Simon, the island is indeed Edenic. Simon's experience in the jungle, which we read in detail, emphasizes his spiritual and peaceful character. His long hair and bare feet connect him not only to nature but to the stereotypical wandering prophet or even Jesus Christ, a link that the novel will enforce further with his murder. When he, Ralph, and Jack decide to go look at the signal fire, Simon abruptly abandons the mission without word in order to wander off into the forest with a sense of 'purpose.' Ignoring the usual rules of social interaction, which would require him to tell the others of his plans out of politeness, Simon distinguishes himself as ruled not by society but by an intense and even spiritual inner force. Yet, unlike Piggy, Simon seems content with his difference and even cultivates it. Described as barefoot, long-haired, and alternately 'queer' and 'funny,' Simon is revealed as socially outcast from the other boys. Simon was introduced in Chapter One but is not important until he interrupts Ralph's and Jack's argument. Chapter Three provides the reader with more insight into Simon's character.

Lord of the flies character quotes