Title and Author: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Plot Overview: A class of boys on a school trip get stranded on an island with no adults to hold order. The group of once-civilized boys go wild without anyone to hold them accountable or enforce rules and morality. Ralph seeks to be leader, and he goes about commanding other boys using a conch as a symbol of power, but soon enough, the conch is nothing more than a playtoy. Jack, the representation of domination, takes over most of the boys, encouraging them to let go of their lingering morality and become savages, and Ralph and Piggy futily attempt to gain back control. The beast is the villain in this story for most of the boys, but what only Simon can see is that the beast is truly just humankind destroying everything in their path. The boys finally release their inner beasts when at last, the final representation of morality and civilization is killed.

Critique: The most interesting part of this book was the symbolism of the beast, which was present in each boy. The boys didn't understand that the beast wasn't physical; it was a part of each human and could be controlled only if the boys accepted that the beast was within them in the first place. I really liked the deeper meaning behind the book, which essentially explains that humans are only kept in check because of law, order, and enforced morality, and if law were removed, most humans would descend into a state of savagery and would not be moral.

Cover Critique: The cover of this book doesn't reveal much, but it does show boys' hands covered in blood, which shows their lack of morality and their turn into savagery with a lack of rules.

Star Rating: I really enjoyed this book and would give it a 4.5/5. I would recommend this book to everyone.