Lord of the Flies: Step One

Admittedly, it has been several years since I last read Lord of the Flies. But the opportunity to read it again was just too good to pass up. Another confession though. I am afraid that my connections to digital culture will be a little too literal. I'm hoping that once I get to do a deeper reading I can find some more valuable connections.

• The boys are forced onto the island without any choice. Once they are there they have to figure out how they want things to work and who their leaders will be. The obvious similarities here -- either change with technology or be left in the dark. As we've discussed briefly in class before, we're still trying to decide what the rules are for the internet and who decides what those rules are.
• The boys fear the things that they don't understand (the trapped parachute, the pig's head, each other). However, Simon discovers that the main evil is within themselves. Who are we to say that things on the internet are evil when really we get out of it exactly what we put into it.
• There are very obvious social divides on the island. The hunters, the thinkers, the survivors. There are also very obvious groups on the internet. Those who use it for business, use it for pleasure, use it for terror.

Hopefully I'll come up with a few more solid ideas in the coming week or two. But these are the springboards for now!