Lord of the Flies: Plot Summary (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Plot Summary

One of the most vital and helpful things you can do in preparation for the exam is to ‘know’ the plot of Lord of the Flies thoroughly. Once you know the text well, you should be comfortable and familiar with key events that you can then link to larger ideas. Having an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the text will help you to gain confidence to find the most relevant references to support your response.

Overview

Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by English author, and former schoolteacher, William Golding. The novel is set in the midst of a worldwide nuclear war on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It concerns a group of British schoolboys – the only survivors of a plane crash – learning to fend for themselves in this uninhabited and isolated wilderness.

The novel begins with Ralph and Piggy attempting to find other survivors of the plane crash. By blowing a conch shell, Ralph manages to assemble a group of boys who promptly elect him as their leader. Jack, an older boy, is appointed as the leader of the hunters. Ralph – along with Piggy – attempts to impose some order on the island, in part to allay fears of an imagined ‘beast’; they task the others with building huts and keeping a signal fire lit, so that passing ships and planes might see it and rescue them. 

Ralph and Piggy grow increasingly frustrated with the other boys who fail to keep the signal fire lit, especially Jack, whose hunters catch a pig instead of tending the fire. These tensions grow and result in a split in the group: Jack and his hunters no longer acknowledge Ralph’s leadership. Meanwhile, all the boys continue to be plagued with fears about a beast roaming the island.

Two boys spot a dead parachutist in the trees and mistake him for the beast. All the older boys join forces once again to hunt and kill this monster, but after the unsuccessful hunt, they split for good and Jack declares himself the leader of the island. Jack’s group begins to take part in strange rituals, including frenzied tribal dances and the offering of sacrifices. Simon, a reserved boy, stumbles into one of these frantic dances. He is mistaken for the beast and killed. 

After the murder of Simon, Jack’s group become even more crazed and violent, and attack Ralph and Piggy. In an effort to reconcile the two groups, Ralph and Piggy go to Castle Rock, Jack’s group’s stronghold, but Jack is not interested and Piggy is killed, while Ralph is pursued into the jungle. Just before Jack’s group comes upon Ralph, a British naval officer appears. He has come to rescue them. The boys weep in shame at what they have become. The officer turns away.

Chapter-By-Chapter Plot Summary

Chapter 1

• A fair-haired middle-class boy, Ralph, meets a chubby working-class boy, Piggy, on a beach on a deserted island

• They establish that their aeroplane – carrying evacuees from England – has crashed and decide to find other survivors

• Piggy suggests that they could use a conch shell as a kind of horn to summon survivors

• Ralph blows it and several groups of boys assemble

• In a divided vote, Ralph is elected leader

• Ralph, realising Jack is disappointed not to be leader himself, appoints Jack as the head of the hunters

Chapter 2

• Ralph summons all the boys to a meeting

• At the meeting, it is agreed that since there are no adults on the island, it is up to the boys to organise and look after themselves

• It is also agreed that – at meetings – whoever is holding the conch shell has the right to speak, and no one else can

• One of the younger boys – with a mulberry-coloured birthmark on his face – says that he saw a “beastie” the night before. Fear spreads through the younger boys

• The older boys reassure the group that there are no monsters on the island

• In order that the boys might get rescued, Ralph proposes the boys build a signal fire to alert passing ships and planes of their presence

• They attempt to light their signal fire (with Piggy’s glasses) but instead, in their haste, set fire to nearby trees, causing a forest fire

• Piggy rebukes the group for their stupidity and mentions that the boy with the mulberry-coloured birthmark, who was playing by the trees, is now missing

Chapter 3

• Ralph voices his frustration that none of the boys, besides Simon, seem to be helping in putting up shelters

• The other boys are playing, or off on hunting adventures

• He directly criticises Jack for failing to catch even a single pig

• Simon helps some of the younger boys – also known as “littluns” – pick fruit

• Simon then finds a secluded spot in a glade and basks in the beauty of the island

Chapter 4

• The littluns grow increasingly fearful of the idea of a monster living on the island

• Some of the hunters, including Roger, begin to bully the littluns, stomping on their sandcastles and throwing stones near them

• Ralph notices that the signal fire has gone out and is furious with Jack, who was on fire duty

• Jack and the hunters return to camp with their first kill: a pig

• Ralph and Piggy chastise Jack and the hunters for letting the signal fire go out

• Jack slaps Piggy after Piggy continues to rebuke Jack

• The hunters roast the pig and commence a frenzied dance around the campfire

Chapter 5

• Ralph blows the conch shell and convenes a meeting to discuss the importance of keeping the signal fire lit

• He also criticises the boys for failing to gather water, help in building shelters and even failing to use the designated toilet areas

• One of the littluns suggests that the beast might hide in the sea during the daytime, an idea which terrifies even the older boys

• Not following the established rules for the meeting, Jack insists that if there is a beast, he and his hunters will kill it and leads most of the boys off into the jungle in a crazed dance

• Only Ralph, Piggy and Simon are left in the group

Chapter 6

• In the night, a military gunfight takes place above the island, but no one is alerted because the twins Sam and Eric – supposed to be on signal fire duty – fall asleep

• Sam and Eric discover the dead body of a parachutist and are convinced it is the beast

• After hearing of the beast from Sam and Eric, all the boys, except Piggy and the littluns, set out on an expedition to kill the beast

• Ralph allows Jack to lead this expedition and the two come to a temporary truce

• However, the boys quickly lose sight of their objective to seek out the beast and begin to play, leaving Ralph frustrated once more

Chapter 7

• The boys spot pig droppings in the jungle and decide to hunt the pig while still searching for the beast; this time, Ralph joins in

• The boys, including Ralph, get caught up in the excitement of the hunt

• Still in a frenzied state after the chase, the boys re-enact the hunt with a boy called Robert standing in for the pig

• They nearly kill Robert, such is the savagery of their game

• Ralph announces that it will be too difficult to hunt for the beast at night, but Jack disagrees, challenging Ralph to join him

• Ralph reluctantly agrees and the boys spot what they think is the beast at the top of the mountain

• Terrified, they run down the mountain immediately to warn the others

Chapter 8

• The boys fall out over how to deal with the beast and Jack declares he is setting up his own tribe

• Lots of the boys follow Jack

• Piggy attempts to convince Ralph that they are better off without the other boys and that the best course of action would be to build another signal fire on the beach

• Jack’s tribe kill a pig in a savage attack and cut off its head to offer as a sacrifice to the beast

• Members of Jack’s tribe steal sticks from Ralph’s camp, but also invite them to a feast that evening

• Simon returns to his secluded glade in an attempt to seek some peace 

• However, this is the location of the sacrificial pig’s head, impaled on a stick in the middle of the clearing

• Simon stares at it and begins to hallucinate that it is The Lord of the Flies  and that it is talking to him

• The head promises to have some “fun” with Simon and that he can’t escape, and Simon faints

Chapter 9

• Simon wakes and is drawn to the mountain, where he discovers the dead body of the parachutist

• Realising that the boys have mistaken this dead man for a monster, he descends the mountain to tell the boys of their mistake

• Meanwhile, at the feast, which Ralph and Piggy have joined, Jack sits on a throne and has his face painted

• After the meal, Jack’s tribe begin a ritualistic dance

• Even Ralph and Piggy are swept up in the frenzy of the dance, and the boys become more and more lost in the savage ritual

• Simon emerges from the forest to tell them the true identity of the beast but the boys – in their frenzy – set upon him with fists and teeth

• Simon is killed and his body is washed away by the storm surge

Chapter 10

• The next morning Ralph recognises his part in the murder, but Piggy characterises Simon’s death as an accident

• Jack’s tribe has relocated to Castle Rock, a natural fortification at the top of the mountain

• He rules his tribe with fear and punishment: we see boys beaten and tortured

• In the night, Jack’s hunters attack Ralph’s camp, beating up many of the boys, including Ralph

• Piggy realises that they came for his glasses and, consequently, the means to make fire

Chapter 11

• Bringing the conch shell, Ralph and Piggy visit Castle Rock in an attempt to reason with Jack and to secure the return of Piggy’s glasses

• Jack commands Ralph to leave his camp, and when Ralph refuses, they fight

• As the fight intensifies, Roger launches a huge boulder from the top of Castle Rock

• Ralph dodges the huge rock, but it strikes Piggy, smashing the conch shell and sending Piggy to his death on the rocks below

• Jack throws a spear at Ralph, who flees into the jungle

• Jack’s tribe begin to torture Sam and Eric

Chapter 12

• Ralph stumbles upon the sacrificial pig’s head, throws it to the ground and takes the stake for a weapon

• He returns to Castle Rock in an attempt to rejoin Sam and Eric

• Sam and Eric tell him that Jack has plans to kill Ralph in the morning so Ralph retreats and hides in the jungle

• In the morning, Jack sets the jungle alight in an attempt to drive Ralph out

• Terrified, Ralph fights his way past the hunters and flees for his life, until he finally collapses from exhaustion on the beach

• When he looks up he sees a British naval officer who has – on seeing the forest ablaze – come to rescue them

• The hunters soon reach the beach and all the boys weep in shame at what they have become

• The officer turns away from the indecorous sight of a group of boys weeping