Why read this: Lord of the Flies is one of the most widely taught novels in English-medium schools, but a B2 reader meeting it for the first time can easily get lost in its symbolism and Cold War background. This article gives students a clear way in: a journalist's argument that a 70-year-old book still describes our own world, supported by quotes from Golding's daughter, a literature professor and the screenwriter behind the new Netflix version. It pairs well with classroom reading of the novel itself or with a clip from the Adolescence series, and it lets students practise reading multi-voice journalism, where the writer builds a case using other people's words.
What to notice: Notice how the article keeps coming back to one question: why does this old book still matter today? Each paragraph offers a different answer (a microcosm of society, a Cold War story stripped of its details, a mirror for autocratic leaders, a study of fearful boys). Notice also how the writer uses three named experts (Tim Kendall, Judy Carver, Jack Thorne) and weaves their quotations into the argument; ask students to track who is speaking when. Watch for hedged language such as 'she suggests', 'he argues' and 'almost' — these signal interpretation, not fact. Finally, look at how the gloss terms (Cold War, the Reds, mushroom cloud, Christ figure, microcosm, toxic masculinity) carry the article's argument: lose them and the argument flattens into plot summary.
Skills practised: Following a multi-voice argument across paragraphs; tracking which expert is speaking when; reading hedged academic language and recognising the difference between a claim and a fact; building cultural-literacy schema (Cold War, Christ figure, microcosm of society) that unlocks future reading; inferring an author's main argument from a journalistic feature rather than expecting it to be stated directly; comparing a literary work with its modern adaptation and noticing why a director might emphasise different themes for a new audience.
Why Lord of the Flies still feels like today
Seventy years after William Golding's novel was first published, Jack Thorne's new Netflix version argues the book still describes the angry world we live in.
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
William Golding's Lord of the Flies has had a long life. The novel, published in 1954, follows a group of British schoolboys whose plane crashes on an empty island. With no adults around, the boys try to build their own society, but they quickly fall into violence. Stephen King has called the book one of his biggest influences, and it has inspired films, a dance show and even a Simpsons parody. Now Jack Thorne, who wrote the megahit Netflix series Adolescence, has adapted it for television again. He says the story still speaks to today's world, where people often find it easier to attack each other than to help.
Golding draws each boy with care, which is why the island has long been seen as a . Piggy is the clever boy with glasses who is bullied by the others. Ralph is the natural leader who tries to keep order. Jack, his rival, wants power and pulls the rest of the group into chaos and cruelty. Simon is the quiet, thoughtful one, almost a , who senses that the real evil on the island comes from inside the boys themselves. Generations of students have read the book in school, although not all of them enjoyed being made to read it.
Tim Kendall, a professor at the University of Exeter who has edited a collection of Golding's letters, says the novel began as something even more specific. In an early version, the boys were being moved to safety from a third world war. A deleted passage even described a rising behind their plane. That image, Kendall argues, makes very clear what Golding was doing: the boys on the island were repeating in miniature what the adults were doing on a global scale. In the published book, only one phrase, , points to the that shaped the writing. By cutting the rest, Golding made the novel feel timeless rather than tied to the 1950s.
Each generation finds a different meaning in the story. Judy Carver, Golding's daughter, says early readers focused on religion and saw Simon as a sacrificial figure. Later, environmental readings became more important, prompted by the boys setting fire to the island. Today, she suggests, the rise of leaders with absolute power makes Jack the obvious mirror, and rules about war and fair trials feel in danger of breaking down. Carver also notes that it would be wrong to say her father wrote the book about masculinity, although a careful reader can find that idea in it. Her father came to believe that a good book belongs to its readers, and that each generation has the right to find its own meaning.
Thorne's adaptation looks for ideas in the book that classroom readings often miss. As a child, he simply hated Jack. Reading the novel again as an adult, he found a portrait that was much gentler than he remembered. Jack's cruelty, Thorne argues, is not the work of an evil heart but the result of small, frightened decisions made to keep his authority. The phrase , he adds, has become so common that for boys trying to work out who they should be, it feels almost frightening. His version of the story shows boys whose fathers are distant or absent, but it does not blame those fathers in a simple way. Thorne worries that the book's title is now used too easily, summoned every time someone announces another . Golding's novel, he believes, deserves more careful attention, because what it caught about ordinary, frightened boys is still painfully true.
William Golding's Lord of the Flies has had a long life. The novel, published in 1954, follows a group of British schoolboys whose plane crashes on an empty island. With no adults around, the boys try to build their own society, but they quickly fall into violence. Stephen King has called the book one of his biggest influences, and it has inspired films, a dance show and even a Simpsons parody. Now Jack Thorne, who wrote the megahit Netflix series Adolescence, has adapted it for television again. He says the story still speaks to today's world, where people often find it easier to attack each other than to help.
Golding draws each boy with care, which is why the island has long been seen as a . Piggy is the clever boy with glasses who is bullied by the others. Ralph is the natural leader who tries to keep order. Jack, his rival, wants power and pulls the rest of the group into chaos and cruelty. Simon is the quiet, thoughtful one, almost a , who senses that the real evil on the island comes from inside the boys themselves. Generations of students have read the book in school, although not all of them enjoyed being made to read it.
Tim Kendall, a professor at the University of Exeter who has edited a collection of Golding's letters, says the novel began as something even more specific. In an early version, the boys were being moved to safety from a third world war. A deleted passage even described a rising behind their plane. That image, Kendall argues, makes very clear what Golding was doing: the boys on the island were repeating in miniature what the adults were doing on a global scale. In the published book, only one phrase, , points to the that shaped the writing. By cutting the rest, Golding made the novel feel timeless rather than tied to the 1950s.
Each generation finds a different meaning in the story. Judy Carver, Golding's daughter, says early readers focused on religion and saw Simon as a sacrificial figure. Later, environmental readings became more important, prompted by the boys setting fire to the island. Today, she suggests, the rise of leaders with absolute power makes Jack the obvious mirror, and rules about war and fair trials feel in danger of breaking down. Carver also notes that it would be wrong to say her father wrote the book about masculinity, although a careful reader can find that idea in it. Her father came to believe that a good book belongs to its readers, and that each generation has the right to find its own meaning.
Thorne's adaptation looks for ideas in the book that classroom readings often miss. As a child, he simply hated Jack. Reading the novel again as an adult, he found a portrait that was much gentler than he remembered. Jack's cruelty, Thorne argues, is not the work of an evil heart but the result of small, frightened decisions made to keep his authority. The phrase , he adds, has become so common that for boys trying to work out who they should be, it feels almost frightening. His version of the story shows boys whose fathers are distant or absent, but it does not blame those fathers in a simple way. Thorne worries that the book's title is now used too easily, summoned every time someone announces another . Golding's novel, he believes, deserves more careful attention, because what it caught about ordinary, frightened boys is still painfully true.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
Why does Tim Kendall mention that the early manuscript described a mushroom cloud and a third world war, even though those details were cut from the published book?
- 02
When Thorne describes his portrait of Jack as gentler than he remembered, what is the article suggesting about the new adaptation?
- 03
What is the main argument the article makes about Lord of the Flies?
- 04
The article suggests that Lord of the Flies feels more relevant today than it did in the past. Using at least two examples from the text (a quotation, a critic's idea, or a choice in Thorne's adaptation), evaluate this claim. Do you think the novel is genuinely more relevant now, or do people simply use its title whenever something goes wrong in the news?
Suggested length: ~80 words
- 05
Thorne avoids the phrase toxic masculinity, while Carver says it would be wrong to claim Golding wrote the book about masculinity. Yet the new adaptation clearly explores this theme. How can all three positions make sense at the same time?
Suggested length: ~80 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
Why does Tim Kendall mention that the early manuscript described a mushroom cloud and a third world war, even though those details were cut from the published book?
- 02
When Thorne describes his portrait of Jack as gentler than he remembered, what is the article suggesting about the new adaptation?
- 03
What is the main argument the article makes about Lord of the Flies?
- 04
The article suggests that Lord of the Flies feels more relevant today than it did in the past. Using at least two examples from the text (a quotation, a critic's idea, or a choice in Thorne's adaptation), evaluate this claim. Do you think the novel is genuinely more relevant now, or do people simply use its title whenever something goes wrong in the news?
Suggested length: ~80 words
- 05
Thorne avoids the phrase toxic masculinity, while Carver says it would be wrong to claim Golding wrote the book about masculinity. Yet the new adaptation clearly explores this theme. How can all three positions make sense at the same time?
Suggested length: ~80 words