The Telegraph
Why Lord of the Flies speaks volumes about boys
As William Golding's classic novel celebrates its 60th birthday, Jake Wallis Simons explains why it still offers terrifying insights into the male mind.
A scene from the 1963 film version of William Golding's Lord Of The Flies, which starred Hugh Edwards as Piggy (right) and Tom Gaman as Simon.Photo: Rex
ByJake Wallis Simons
11:54AM BST 17 Sep 2014
Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!
You’ve guessed it: Lord of the Flies, which was published 60 years ago today.
In the decades since William Golding’s classic exploded onto the literary scene, the tale of childhood brutality has been hailed as a visionary book that unveils the dark heart of human nature with alarming vividness.
Many times it has been included in lists of the 100 best novels in the English language, including those produced by TIME magazine and the BBC’s Big Read.
But what many commentators seem to overlook is the fact that it is also a profoundlymalenovel. It may be about the human condition; but given the fact that there are no female protagonists on the deserted island, it could more accurately be said to be about the male human condition.
According toDr Stephanie van Goozen, a professor of developmental psychology at Cardiff University – who has conducted extensive research into aggression in children – Golding’s masterpiece could only have been written about boys.
“In babies we don’t see a lot of emotional differences between the genders,” she says. “But from the age of two or three, girls start to control themselves and regulate their emotions a bit more.
“They are able to pick up emotional signals, and are sensitive to facial expressions. Boys, on the other hand, have violent responses much higher up in their repertoire of behaviour, and it emerges more easily in stress situations.”
In other words, you would be less likely to see a group of girls shoving a sharpened stick up a pig’s rear end (unless under extreme provocation).
This might make for a more engaging book. But does this mean that girls are more enlightened than boys? “Not necessarily,” says Professor van Goozen. “It is not socially acceptable for girls to bite and fight when they are growing up, so they find more complex ways of expressing indirect aggression.
“If Lord of the Flies focused on a group of girls, you’d have more gossiping and social exclusion, as well as sniping and cutting remarks.”
Moreover, the saint-like character of Simon, who shuns physical violence and lives a more spiritual existence, is not simply the stuff of literary imagination.
“We do see boys who are just not able to be physically aggressive, who don’t have it in their repertoire,” says Professor van Goozen. “It is possible to have more high-minded boys whose behaviour varies in the normal range. It’s definitely not all bad about men.”
(Let's pass quickly over the fact that Simon is brutally killed by his peers. Ahem.)
But however profound the gender differences may be, when it is survival that is at stake, girls will resort to violence as intensely as boys.
According to Professor van Goozen, the fairer sex will fight tooth and nail when “backed into a corner”.
“When you have no options, if a big bear is walking towards you and it is about survival, a girl will attack as well,” she says. “That’s when all the layers of conditioning fall away and it comes down to brute instinct.”
“Girls can be as violent as boys. It’s just that they must be pushed more first.”