Very Short Summary
A Pacific island, during a future world war. A group of British schoolboys survived a plane crash that left them stranded without adult supervision. They attempted to establish a civilized society, electing a chief and setting rules.
Ralph focused on maintaining a signal fire for rescue, while another boy challenged his authority.
Jack formed his own tribe of hunters, who painted their faces and became increasingly violent. The boys began to fear a mysterious 'beast' on the island. When Simon discovered the truth - that the beast was their own inner darkness - he was killed in a frenzy by the group. Later, Jack's tribe killed Piggy and hunted Ralph, setting the entire island on fire to flush him out.
Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.
Just as Ralph was about to be captured, a naval officer arrived on the beach, drawn by the smoke from the burning island. The officer was shocked to find the well-bred British boys in such a savage state. The boys broke down crying, suddenly aware of how far they had fallen from civilization.
Detailed Summary by Chapters
Chapter subtitles are editorial.
Chapter 1. The Sound of the Shell: Arrival on the Island
During an evacuation from an atomic war, a group of British schoolboys' plane crashed on a tropical island. A fair-haired boy named Ralph emerged from the wreckage and met an overweight boy wearing glasses, known as Piggy. Together they discovered a conch shell, which Ralph blew to summon any other survivors.
The sound of the conch brought more boys to the beach, including a group of choir boys led by Jack Merridew, who marched in formation wearing black cloaks. The boys decided to hold an election for chief. Despite Jack's obvious desire for leadership, the majority voted for Ralph. To appease Jack, Ralph put him in charge of the choir boys, who became the group's hunters.
Ralph, Jack, and Simon went on an expedition to determine if they were indeed on an island. They climbed the mountain and confirmed their isolation, but also discovered the beauty and abundance of their new environment. On their return, they encountered a pig trapped in creepers, but Jack hesitated at the crucial moment and failed to kill it.
Chapter 2. Fire on the Mountain: The First Assembly
Ralph called an assembly using the conch and established basic rules for their society. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a signal fire for rescue. The boys used Piggy's glasses to start a fire on the mountain. However, in their excitement, they built it too large, and it spread out of control, resulting in a massive forest fire. A young boy with a birthmark, who had earlier spoken of a 'snake-thing' or 'beastie', disappeared in the chaos, becoming the first casualty on the island.
The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away. Once there was this and that; and now—and the ship had gone.
Chapter 3. Huts on the Beach: Division of Labor
As time passed, clear divisions emerged in the group. Ralph focused on building shelters and maintaining the signal fire, while Jack became increasingly obsessed with hunting. The two leaders began to clash over priorities. Simon, a quiet and thoughtful boy, helped Ralph with the shelters while others played or wandered off. The growing tension between Ralph's practical leadership and Jack's hunting obsession became more apparent.
Chapter 4. Painted Faces and Long Hair: The First Hunt
Jack began painting his face with clay and charcoal, creating a mask that liberated him from shame and self-consciousness. While Ralph and Piggy were swimming, Jack and his hunters neglected the fire to hunt a pig. They succeeded in making their first kill, but the unattended signal fire went out just as a ship passed by the island.
The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness... The mask compelled them.
Chapter 5. Beast from Water: Fear Takes Hold
Ralph called an assembly to address the growing problems on the island. The younger boys, or 'littluns,' were increasingly terrified of a supposed beast. During the meeting, Simon suggested that perhaps the beast was only their own inner darkness, but the others ridiculed him.
Maybe there is a beast... maybe it's only us... Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind's essential illness.
Chapter 6. Beast from Air: The Dead Parachutist
During an aerial battle, a dead parachutist landed on the mountain. Sam and Eric, the twins who were tending the fire, mistook the corpse's movements in the wind for a terrifying beast. Their report threw the entire group into panic. Ralph, Jack, and Roger led an expedition to investigate but fled in terror when they glimpsed the shadowy figure in the darkness.
Chapter 7. Shadows and Tall Trees: The Hunt for the Beast
The boys attempted another expedition to find the beast. During a mock hunt, Robert was hurt when the others got carried away playing the role of the pig. They finally reached the mountain but were too scared to properly investigate the beast in the growing darkness. The division between Ralph and Jack continued to deepen.
Chapter 8. Gift for the Darkness: Jack's Tribe Forms
Jack challenged Ralph's leadership and, when he failed to win support, left to form his own tribe. Most of the older boys gradually joined him, drawn by the allure of hunting and meat. After a successful hunt, Jack's tribe left a pig's head on a stake as an offering to the beast. Simon discovered this 'Lord of the Flies' and experienced a hallucinatory conversation with it, revealing the true nature of the beast as the darkness within themselves.
Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! ... I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?
Chapter 9. A View to a Death: Simon's Murder
Simon discovered that the beast was actually the dead parachutist and hurried to tell the others. Meanwhile, Ralph and Piggy joined Jack's feast. During a wild storm, the boys performed a frenzied dance and ritual hunt. When Simon emerged from the forest to share his discovery, the group, caught up in their savage dance, mistook him for the beast and killed him. His body was washed away by the tide.
Chapter 10. The Shell and the Glasses: Piggy's Loss
The next morning, only Ralph and Piggy acknowledged their role in Simon's death. Most boys had joined Jack's tribe at Castle Rock, leaving only Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric. That night, Jack's tribe raided Ralph's camp and stole Piggy's glasses to make fire, leaving him effectively blind.
Chapter 11. Castle Rock: Piggy's Death
Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric went to Castle Rock to confront Jack's tribe and demand the return of Piggy's glasses. Piggy carried the conch, still believing in its symbolic power. As he attempted to address the tribe, Roger deliberately rolled a massive boulder down the cliff, which killed Piggy and shattered the conch shell. Samneric were captured and tortured into joining Jack's tribe, while Ralph fled into the forest.
Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?... Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?
The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist... Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea.
Chapter 12. Cry of the Hunters: The Rescue
Jack's tribe hunted Ralph like an animal, setting the forest on fire to smoke him out. As Ralph fled for his life, he stumbled across a naval officer who had spotted the fire from his ship. The officer was shocked by the state of the boys and their regression into savagery. The reality of what they had done hit the boys, and they began to sob. Ralph wept for the end of innocence and the darkness of man's heart.