Such a good title

Apparently the book was originally set to be titled Strangers From Within but was changed on the advice of the publishers, who also recommended a host of edits, including slashing the entire first part of the story which had the kids being evacuated from a WWIII nuclear explosion. Golding rightly followed all their suggestions.

Lord Of The Flies is such an evocative image, and paired with the severed pig’s head makes you wonder how and why this thing becomes a deity. It’s also a literal translation of ‘Beelzebub’ which adds some historical gravitas. It’s a product of the psychological horror that the kids undergo, so much better than Strangers From Within which is simultaneously too obvious yet too abstract to jump off the shelf.

It’s truly one of the best stories about power and corruption, and the idea of demonstrating this through a group of kids is genius. The murder of Piggy is still one of the most chilling and disturbing things I’ve ever seen.

I think we’re overdue another adaptation, updated for the times but without any woke-washing in which all the evil kids are white and the goodies are black/brown etc. Perhaps we need to wait until the era of woke has blown over before it’s safe to try again.