Lord of the Flies- A to Z

Last night I gave my ten year old a copy of  The Lord of the Flies.  I have been trying to give her books that would challenge her reading ability.  Most books, not unlike most newspapers, are written on about a 6th grade reading level.  This is especially true for YA novels as that is their target audience.  Most books that can be classified as Literature are written at a much higher level.  There doesn't seem to be much to bridge that chasm.  Lord of the Flies, in my opinion, can do that. 

Lord of the Flies can be read on two levels.  On one level, the level my daughter will immediately understand is that of a survival story and bullies.  On a much higher and complex level, the story is about human nature in lines with the like of Heart of Darkness.  The great thing is that Golding writes flies in such a way as the connection can easily be made and, hopefully, once pointed out to a 4th grader, she will be able run with it. 

I read this book as an adult, so I lost some of that memory of how mean kids can be to each other and just how quickly societal norms can fade.  Golding captures this perfectly.  It are the kids the devolve completely that are most equiped for survival.  Piggy is the least equipped as he holds tight to societal norms.  Ralph splits the difference, but all the other characters are drawn to devolving out of fear.  Published in 1954, as the cold war and nuclear annialation are justifiably large fears, the story is a perfect allegory for nuclear armement.  No one wants to follow Jack Merridew into the wild, but they have to out of fear.

Oh crap I was writing an essay, sorry. 

Martians

NPR (National Public Radio) has a show called Studio 360. This weekend they did a show on Violence and had a reading of Jack Handy's "My Speech to the Martians." As a fan of senseless violence, this short essay had me rolling. Below, I will post a few of my favorite quotes.

But you can’t kill an idea. And that idea is: me chasing you with a big wooden mallet.

If you will not free me, at least deliver a message to Earth. Send my love to my wife, and also to my girlfriend. And to my children, if I have any anyplace. Ask my wife to please send me a bazooka, which is a flower we have on Earth.

You say your civilization is more advanced than ours. But who is really the more “civilized” one? You, standing there watching this cage? Or me, with my pants down, trying to urinate on you?

The Studio 360 site has an audio file of the reading available for download. The The New Yorker has the full text.