Justin Halpern on why Lord of the Flies matters: the boys have nothing to fight over except Piggy's glasses, yet they pursue power for its own sake. That hunger for power without purpose, he argues, explains much of history's worst moments.
they don't have a pot to piss in in this book. They don't have anything on the island. There is nothing of value on this island. There's nothing. There's Piggy's glasses. So all they're doing is trying to get power for power's sake. And that to me is such an interesting thing to think about and so relevant to any time in Amer— in, in world history because I think when people want power for power's sake is when so many other people are harmed because of it.
So big question: how did Lord of the Flies by William Golding change your life?
It made me
