By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Lord of the Flies was first published in 1954, although it very nearly wasn’t published at all. Its author, William Golding, was a struggling grammar-school teacher when he wrote it, having been given the germ of the idea by his wife, Ann.
The novel’s title is a reference to Beelzebub, a name for the Devil, which means literally ‘lord of the flies’ (at least in most translations). Given the fact that power, devilry, and, yes, flies are all central aspects of Lord of the Flies, the title is especially apt.