Summary of Lord of the Flies by Golding - per chapter of 1st edition

MC-questions

Question 1

How do the boys end up on the island?

1. That is not stated in the book.

2. They were taken to the island so that they could safely wait there until the war was over.

3. The plane in which the boys were sitting was shot above the sea.

4. The ship in which the boys were sitting was shot at and sank.

Question 2

How do Piggy and Ralph ensure that all the boys find each other on the island?

1. They walk through the woods and shout out loud.

2. They blow on a horn.

3. They make a fire.

4. They wave with a pig's head.

Question 3

Who is chosen as the leader by the boys?

1. Piggy

2. Simon

3. Jack

4. Ralph

Question 4

What is Jack's group called?

1. The littleuns

2. The gatherers

3. The hunters

4. The piggies

Question 5

How does Piggy not want to be mentioned by the others?

1. Braniac

2. Piggy

3. Four eyes

4. Fatty

Question 6

The boy with a birthmark says he has seen something at night. What was it?

1. A beast

2. A "nastie"

3. A ghost

4. A plane of the enemy

Question 7

When may someone speak during a meeting?

1. The one who steps forward may speak

2. The one who has the shell may speak

3. The person who has permission from Ralph to speak

4. The one who raises his hand may speak

Question 8

In what way do the boys make fire?

1. With the help of Piggy's glasses

2. A piece of glass that they found on the beach

3. Piggy's sundial

4. Flint

Question 9

What is the most important thing to do according to Ralph?

1. To hunt

2. To not let the fire go out so that they can eat and warm up

3. To make a list with the names of all the boys on it

4. To not let the fire go out, so that someone may be able to find the boys and rescue them

Question 10

What happens to the boy with the birthmark when a part of the forest is on fire?

1. He calls himself the leader

2. He gets burned while he tries to extinguish the fire

3. He disappears and he probably died

4. He gets lost and cries until the older boys find him

Question 11

Ralph gets frustrated because he wants to get more help from the other boys. What does he do?

1. He collects fruit for the boys

2. He builds shelters

3. He writes down the boys' names

4. He takes care of the little boys

Question 12

What is Jack doing in the woods?

1. He is collecting water

2. He is hunting

3. He is building shelters

4. He is collecting fruit

Question 13

What is more important according to Jack than arranging hiding places and keeping the fire going?

1. Meat

2. Telling stories

3. Meetings

4. Fishing

Question 14

Who helps Ralph with building the third shelter?

1. Roger

2. Sam and Eric

3. Piggy and the little boys

4. Simon

Question 15

Where does Simon often go on his own?

1. He goes to a place in the jungle

2. He goes to the beach

3. He goes hunting

4. He goes to the top of Castle Rock

Question 16

Which of the following statements is correct about the way the boys sleep?

1. The boys sleep peacefully by the sea

2. The boys are often sleepwalking

3. The boys sleep warm by the fire

4. The boys often have nightmares and cry in their sleep

Question 17

What happens when the fire goes out?

1. A plane is flying over the island

2. A boat is passing by

3. Jack apologizes

4. Ralph sets the whole forest on fire

Question 18

Why does the fire go out?

1. It goes out because the little boys ran away

2. It goes out because Ralph was too busy with building shelters

3. It goes out because the boys who had to take care of the fire went into the forest to hunt

4. It goes out through the rain

Question 19

What happens with Piggy's glasses?

1. Jack steals the glasses from Piggy and says that the glasses are his now

2. Jack throws the glasses away and consequently also breaks one of the glasses

3. Piggy accidentally drops his glasses on the rocks and his glasses break

4. The little boys steal the glasses from Piggy to play with them

Question 20

What do the boys do during dinner?

1. The boys dance around the fire

2. The boys vote for a new leader

3. The boys talk about how much they want to go home

4. The boys make plans to build new shelters

Question 21

What are the nightmares of the little boys about?

1. They are about a fight between Jack and Ralph

2. They are about the possibility that they will not be saved

3. They are about the event that the fire that can save them goes out

4. They are about the a beast on the island

Question 22

What does Ralph think about his hair?

1. He likes how free and wild it is

2. It reminds him of his mother

3. He doesn't think about his hair

4. It annoys him that it has become long and hangs in front of his eyes

Question 23

Why does Ralph organize another meeting when it is already late?

1. He wants to give a peptalk

2. He wants to resign from his position as a leader

3. He wants to announce new elections

4. He wants to express his frustration that nothing is being done by the other boys

Question 24

According to Percival, where does the beast come from?

1. He comes from within the boys themselves

2. He comes from the forest

3. He comes from the sea

4. He comes from the sky

Question 25

What happens to the group at the end of the meeting?

1. Ralph resigns from his position as leader

2. The beast attacks the group

3. Piggy blows on the horn

4. Jack runs away from the group with most other older boys

Question 26

What do Sam and Eric claim to have seen in the morning?

1. They claim to have seen the beast

2. They claim to have seen the Lord of the Flies

3. They claim to have seen a dead pilot

4. They claim to have seen a ship

Question 27

What comes out of the sky?

1. A war plane comes out of the sky

2. A weather balloon comes out of the sky

3. A dead pilot with his parachute comes out of the sky

4. The beast comes falling from the sky

Question 28

What are the other boys doing while Jack and Ralph are exploring the island?

1. The other boys go hunting

2. The other boys are throwing stones on a rock

3. The other boys are taking care of the fire

4. The other boys are bothering and picking on Piggy

Question 29

Where does Ralph and Jack's exploration lead them?

1. It leads them to a lake

2. It leads them to a clearing in the forest where they see the Lord of the Flies

3. It leads them to a cave in an undiscovered area of ​​the island

4. It leads them to the beach

Question 30

What do the boys do when Ralph tells them to keep looking?

1. The boys go swimming

2. They build a fort

3. They are going back to the beach

4. They stay awake all night and tell each other stories

Question 31

What do the boys decide to do while on a walk on the island?

1. They decide to play hide and seek

2. They decide to hunt

3. They leave traces so that they can find their way back

4. They tie up Sam and Eric

Question 32

What does Simon predict?

1. He thinks that they will never be saved

2. He predicts his own death

3. He thinks that they will all come home safely

4. He believes that Ralph will come home safely

Question 33

What happens when the boys start singing and dancing and when they re-enact the hunt?

1. Robert plays the pig and is injured by the other boys

2. Robert starts stabbing other boys with his spear

3. Piggy disapproves of the boys' behavior

4. Ralph gets scared and runs away 

Question 34

What do Ralph and Jack think they see when they are at the top of the mountain?

1. They think they have seen a dead man

2. They believe they have seen a ghost

3. They think it is the beast

4. They see a ship

Question 35

Where is Simon going?

1. He is going back to the beach to let Piggy know that the group is coming back late

2. He is going into the woods to hunt by himself

3. He goes to the top of Castle Rock to find the beast

4. He goes to the clearing in the forest

Question 36

Where do Ralph and Piggy make the new fire?

1. They make a fire in the clearing in the forest

2. They don't make a new fire

3. They make it on the beach

4. They make a fire at the top of the mountain near the beast

Question 37

What happens when Jack wants to have new elections?

1. He wins the elections

2. He loses and threatens to kill Ralph

3. Ralph and Jack get the same number of votes

4. He loses the elections and runs away and calls himself the leader of a new group

Question 38

Who belongs to Jack's group?

1. All the older boys

2. Ralph

3. Most of the older boys, except for Sam and Eric

4. All the little boys

Question 39

Who is the Lord of the Flies that Simon is talking to?

1. It is a swarm of flies

2. It is the beast

3. It is a pig's head with flies around it

4. It is Jack

Question 40

How does Jack's group make fire?

1. They make fire with molten volcanic stones

2. They force Piggy to hand over his glasses

3. They use flint

4. They steal fire from Ralph's group

Question 41

In what way does Jack arrive at the feast?

1. He stands on a high rock holding a spear in his hand

2. He has washed himself and his clothes and is sitting on a rug next to the fire

3. He has painted his face

4. He seems confused and scared and as if he doesn't know what to do

Question 42

What does Simon discover at the top of the mountain?

1. He discovers that he is actually quite happy on the island

2. He discovers that the beast that the other boys saw was actually a paratrooper

3. He discovers a British naval officer

4. He discovers the beast

Question 43

What does Jack do when Piggy and Ralph come to the feast?

1. He embraces Ralph

2. He orders Roger to tie them up

3. He drives them away with a spear

4. He offers them meat and asks if they want to belong to his group

Question 44

What happens during the party?

1. The boys kill Simon when he comes out of the woods

2. The boys let the fire go out

3. Piggy is trampled by the boys

4. Ralph and Piggy feel uncomfortable and leave the party

Question 45

What makes the boys start running into the dark?

1. They are frightened by Simon's dead body

2. The are frightened by the dead body of the paratrooper that is blown off the mountain by the wind

3. They become scared of a shooting star

4. They run off because a group of pigs is running towards them

Question 46

Who is left in Ralph's group?

1. Piggy

2. Piggy and Wilfred

3. Piggy, Sam and Eric, and the little boys

4. Everyone except for Jack, Robert and Roger

Question 47

What do Piggy and Ralph say about Simon's death?

1. They say they can't remember anything about it

2. They don't want to talk about it

3. Piggy says that it was murder and Ralph says that it was an accident

4. Piggy says that it was an accident and Ralph says that it was murder

Question 48

What does Jack's group think of Simon's death?

1. They think that it was murder

2. They are sad and mourning over it

3. They believe that he had to die because he was possessed by the beast

4. They think that it was an accident

Question 49

Who is Wilfred?

1. He is one of the older boys who wants to take over Jack's leadership role

2. He is a boy who is tied and beaten up by Jack for no apparent reason

3. It is the name the boys have given to the pig that they ate at the feast

4. It is a boy that Roger is throwing stones at

Question 50

What happens with Piggy's glasses?

1. Jack breaks the glasses

2. Piggy loses the glasses

3. Jack's group steals the glasses from Piggy at night

4. Piggy hides the glasses so that Jack's group cannot find the glasses anymore

Question 51

What does Piggy decide to do?

1. He gives up and tries to live without his glasses

2. He confronts Jack and asks if he can have his glasses back

3. He kills Jack

4. He hides before Jack's group can find him

Question 52

What does Ralph decide to take with him?

1. He takes a white flag with him

2. He takes the shell with him

3. He brings burning branches

4. He brings the head of a pig

Question 53

How does Piggy die?

1. The boys hunt him down and then stab him to death

2. Jack ties him up and stabs him with a spear

3. Roger drops an enormous rock on him

4. Roger is spreading panic and Piggy falls of a cliff

Question 54

What happens to Sam and Eric?

1. Piggy and Ralph throw them out of the group

2. They beg Jack if they can belong to his group

3. Roger hits them

4. Jack has them tied up so that they will surrender and join his group

Question 55

Why is Ralph running away?

1. He is running away because the boys are attacking him with spears

2. He is running away because he has an idea about how to regain control of the situation

3. He is running away because Jack is challenging him for a competition

4. He is running away because he sees a British ship on the beach

Question 56

When Ralph hides in the bushes, at one point he finally decides to come out. Why?

1. He comes out because the boys set fire to the forest

2. He comes out because Wilfred has found a way to get to Ralph and they attack him with spears

3. He comes out because the boys threaten to kill Sam and Eric if Ralph does not reveal himself

4. He comes out only after a few days because he can no longer resist hunger

Question 57

What happens when Ralph meets the Lord of the Flies?

1. He runs away in fear and accidentally pushes it over

2. He knockes it over and steals the spear on which the head was speared

3. He starts crying and asks if the Lord of the Flies can help him

4. He gets an epileptic seizure and loses consciousness

Question 58

Who finds Ralph when he falls on the beach?

1. Jack finds him, and he is holding a spear

2. The beast finds him

3. Ralph has a vision of his mother

4. A British naval officer finds Ralph

Question 59

Why is the British officer angry with Ralph?

1. He is angry with him because they set fire to the island

2. He is mad that they got stuck on the island at all

3. He is angry because he is not being very polite to him

4. He is mad because Ralph was able to let things get out of hand

Question 60

What do the boys do as soon as they realize they have been rescued?

1. The boys start crying

2. The boys don't want to leave the island

3. The boys run back into the forest

4. The boys throw spears at the British naval officer

Question 61

Who is the Lord of the Flies?

1. The Lord of the Flies is actually the head of a pig on a stick

2. The Lord of the Flies is actually Jack

3. The Lord of the Flies is actually just a large fly that was seen by Simon

4. The Lord of the Flies is the same thing as the beast

Question 62

What is the best way to describe Roger's personality?

1. Roger is methodical and has an eye for detail

2. Roger is mean and sadistic

3. Roger is mainly hysterical

4. Roger is calm and sensitive

Question 63

What is Samneric?

1. It is the nickname for the twins Sam and Eric

2. It is the password that Jack's group uses to find each other at night

3. It is a large rock on the island

4. It is an expression that Piggy uses when he is collecting food

Question 64

In which way can Piggy's personality be best described?

1. He is a strong and a good leader

2. He is rude and mean

3. He is lonely and bitter

4. He is nagging, intelligent and innovative

Question 65

Which of these boys has the idea that the boys need civilization?

1. Jack

2. Piggy

3. Simon

4. Ralph

Question 66

What does Jack's character represent?

1. It represents cruelty, violence and a lust for power

2. It represents curiosity

3. It represents spiritual goodness

4. It represents order, civilization and good leadership

Question 67

What does the character of Ralph represent?

1. It represents spiritual goodness

2. It represents order, civilization and good leadership

3. It represents cruelty, violence and a lust for power

4. It represents curiosity

Question 68

What does Simon's character represent?

1. It represents curiosity

2. It represents cruelty, violence and a lust for power

3. It represents spiritual goodness

4. It represents order, civilization and good leadership

Question 69

What does Simon realize about the beast?

1. He realizes that the beast is satisfied when it an animal is sacrificed

2. He realizes that it is a curable form of insanity

3. He realizes that it is a beast that comes out of the sea at night

4. He realizes that it is not a physical beast, but the barbarity in the boys' hearts

Question 70

What happens as Jack becomes more and more barbaric?

1. He forgets how to communicate

2. He loses control of his group

3. He gets better at controlling his group

4. He starts to feel guilty

Question 71

What do Piggy's glasses represent?

1. They represent order and stability

2. They represent the desire to go home and see the family again

3. They represent the power of science and reason

4. They represent fire

Question 72

What is the natural state of men in the novel?

1. Wise and orderly

2. Peaceful

3. Barbaric, mean and cruel

4. Defensive, modest and conflict-avoiding

Question 73

According to the novel, what role can civilization play in countering the human tendency for cruelty?

1. Civilization aggravates cruelty

2. Civilization can completely remove cruelty

3. Civilization cannot influence the tendency for cruelty

4. Civilization can help control the tendency for cruelty

Question 74

In what way is the connection between the boys and civilization represented in the novel?

1. It is represented by Jack's face paint

2. It is represented by Piggy glasses

3. It is represented by the fire

4. It is represented by the rocks

Question 75

How is order and civilization represented in the novel?

1. It is represented by the shell

2. It is represented by the hunt

3. It is represented by the beach

4. It is represented by Piggy glasses

Open questions

Question 1

Why can it be said that Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel? What are the important symbols in the novel?

Question 2

In what way does Jack use the beast to control the boys?

Question 3

Compare Ralph and Simon. Both of them seem to be "good" people. Is there a difference in their "goodness"?

Answer indication MC-questions

Question 1

C. The plane in which the boys were sitting was shot above the sea.

Question 2

B. They blow on a horn.

Question 3

D. Ralph

Question 4

C. The hunters

Question 5

B. Piggy

Question 6

A. A beast

Question 7

B. The one who has the shell may speak

Question 8

A. With the help of Piggy's glasses

Question 9

D. To not let the fire go out, so that someone may be able to find the boys and rescue them

Question 10

C. He disappears and he probably died

Question 11

B. He builds shelters

Question 12

B. He is hunting

Question 13

A. Meat

Question 14

D. Simon

Question 15

A. He goes to a place in the jungle

Question 16

D. The boys often have nightmares and cry in their sleep

Question 17

B. A boat is passing by

Question 18

C. It goes out because the boys who had to take care of the fire went into the forest to hunt

Question 19

B. Jack throws the glasses away and consequently also breaks one of the glasses

Question 20

A. The boys dance around the fire

Question 21

D. They are about the a beast on the island

Question 22

D. It annoys him that it has become long and hangs in front of his eyes

Question 23

D. He wants to express his frustration that nothing is being done by the other boys

Question 24

C. He comes from the sea

Question 25

D. Jack runs away from the group with most other older boys

Question 26

C. They claim to have seen a dead pilot

Question 27

D. The beast comes falling from the sky

Question 28

B. The other boys are throwing stones on a rock

Question 29

C. It leads them to a cave in an undiscovered area of ​​the island

Question 30

B. They build a fort

Question 31

B. They decide to hunt

Question 32

D. He believes that Ralph will come home safely

Question 33

A. Robert plays the pig and is injured by the other boys

Question 34

C. They think it is the beast

Question 35

A. He is going back to the beach to let Piggy know that the group is coming back late

Question 36

C. They make it on the beach

Question 37

D. He loses the elections and runs away and calls himself the leader of a new group

Question 38

C. Most of the older boys, except for Sam and Eric

Question 39

C. It is a pig's head with flies around it

Question 40

D. They steal fire from Ralph's group

Question 41

C. He has painted his face

Question 42

B. He discovers that the beast that the other boys saw was actually a paratrooper

Question 43

D. He offers them meat and asks if they want to belong to his group

Question 44

A. The boys kill Simon when he comes out of the woods

Question 45

B. The are frightened by the dead body of the paratrooper that is blown off the mountain by the wind

Question 46

C. Piggy, Sam and Eric, and the little boys

Question 47

D. Piggy says that it was an accident and Ralph says that it was murder

Question 48

C. They believe that he had to die because he was possessed by the beast

Question 49

B. He is a boy who is tied and beaten up by Jack for no apparent reason

Question 50

C. Jack's group steals the glasses from Piggy at night

Question 51

B. He confronts Jack and asks if he can have his glasses back

Question 52

B. He takes the shell with him

Question 53

C. Roger drops an enormous rock on him

Question 54

D. Jack has them tied up so that they will surrender and join his group

Question 55

A. He is running away because the boys are attacking him with spears

Question 56

A. He comes out because the boys set fire to the forest

Question 57

B. He knockes it over and steals the spear on which the head was speared

Question 58

D. A British naval officer finds Ralph

Question 59

D. He is mad because Ralph was able to let things get out of hand

Question 60

A. The boys start crying

Question 61

A. The Lord of the Flies is actually the head of a pig on a stick

Question 62

B. Roger is mean and sadistic

Question 63

A. It is the nickname for the twins Sam and Eric

Question 64

D. He is nagging, intelligent and innovative

Question 65

D. Ralph

Question 66

A. It represents cruelty, violence and a lust for power

Question 67

B. It represents order, civilization and good leadership

Question 68

C. It represents spiritual goodness

Question 69

D. He realizes that it is not a physical beast, but the barbarity in the boys' hearts

Question 70

C. He gets better at controlling his group

Question 71

C. They represent the power of science and reason

Question 72

C. Barbaric, mean and cruel

Question 73

D. Civilization can help control the tendency for cruelty

Question 74

C. It is represented by the fire

Question 75

A. It is represented by the shell

Answer indication Open questions

Open question 1

An allegory is a symbolic representation of an idea that is sustained throughout the story in a book. Lord of the Flies can be considered an allegorical novel, because the characters and objects are direct representations of the central themes and ideas in the book. The central point that the author is trying to make is that there is a conflict between the human tendency for civilization and the tendency for cruelty. Each character in the book represents a certain aspect on this spectrum of civilization versus cruelty. Ralph and Piggy are on the side of civilization. Ralph because he tries to create order and build a civil society. Piggy reflects the scientific side of civilization. Jack and Roger are on the cruelty side. Jack strives for power and dominance, and Roger for violence. In addition to the characters, there are also objects that have a symbolic function. The shell that is used to start meetings represents order and political legitimacy. Piggy glasses reflect the power of science and intellect. The pig's head represents the other side of the spectrum and stands for cruelty, violence and barbarism.

Open question 2

Jack manipulates the boys by making the beast a common enemy, as well as a common idol and a common belief. Depending on the situation he finds himself in, he uses these representations. He uses the boys' fears to bring about strong control and to justify his violence. He lets the boys adore the beast in order to stimulate their lust for blood and to motivate them to hunt. Finally, he creates a kind of god by leaving the pig's head in the forest as a sacrifice. This turns the fears in the children's nightmares into reality. The skull becomes a kind of religious item with psychological powers that encourages the boys to leave civilization and give in to their wild impulses.

Open question 3

Both Ralph and Simon can be considered as "good" persons, because they are on the side of civilization (and not on the side of barbarism). Both boys try to achieve order and harmony within the group. However, they seem to have different motivations for this. The civilization of Ralph seems to have been taught to him. It becomes clear in the book that Ralph has a tendency towards cruelty deep down. Simon, on the other hand, seems to possess a kindness that comes from his heart and that was not imposed on him by his youth. Although Ralph is a good leader, at the end it is Simon who recognizes that the beast is not in a material form on the island, but that the beast is the tendency for violence in every individual.

Related summaries and study assistence

• For all available bulletsummaries, booksummaries, practicequestions and studytips with the 1st edition of Lord of the Flies by Golding, see studyguide with Lord of the Flies by Golding.