Not a great surprise.
I read “Lord of the Flies” and several of his other books when they came out, and developed a considerable distaste for his work. It always seemed to me that it was a great mistake to assign this book as a school text. (”Catcher in the Rye,” too, but that’s another story.)
Original sin is, I believe, a fact of human existence. Milton’s “Paradise Lost” is a great poem on the subject. Augustine’s “Confessions” is a great book. “King Lear” is yet another study of evil in human nature. But those writers don’t seem to take pleasure in sin. Golding does.
“But those writers don’t seem to take pleasure in sin. Golding does.”
I don’t doubt that he did. The article paints him as struggling with darkness and somehow being tortured by the evil in humanity. But his stories often revel in evil. That’s their primary appeal to the consumer, anyway.
I don’t mind that the book is assigned in school. It’s short and easy to read, which works for teachers. And Piggy is sympathetic enough to counterbalance the evil.