The last time I read The Lord of the Flies I was probably 10 or 11 years old. Despite there being murders and children turning into savages, for some reason I've always remembered it as a book about adventure, about surviving when you're stranded on a deserted island. Oh and it had a happy ending because Ralph, one of the main characters of the book, managed to escape the other children who were hunting him, probably to kill him, and they were all rescued in the end. That was a happy ending for me. (Knowing myself, at that time I probably either had a crush on Ralph or I wanted to be him, though I can't remember)
25 years later I re-read the book, and found it to be dark, morbid and depressing. What was I thinking? How could this ever have been a book about adventure?? The only explanation I have is that when I first read the book, I was reading it through truly innocent eyes, and therefore thought that it is just a story, a mere figment of the author's imagination, and things like that never happened in real life. When I re-read the book decades later, I was reading it with experienced eyes. I now know how cruel the world can be, and what people are capable of, with or without the rules and laws of civilization. It's scary.
25 years later I re-read the book, and found it to be dark, morbid and depressing. What was I thinking? How could this ever have been a book about adventure?? The only explanation I have is that when I first read the book, I was reading it through truly innocent eyes, and therefore thought that it is just a story, a mere figment of the author's imagination, and things like that never happened in real life. When I re-read the book decades later, I was reading it with experienced eyes. I now know how cruel the world can be, and what people are capable of, with or without the rules and laws of civilization. It's scary.
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