There is a lot of complaining in this thread about English teachers over-interpreting literature. But I think it is pretty clear that the question Lord of the Flies tries to answer is not "what would happen to a bunch of boys stranded on an island?" but more like "how could the holocaust happen?".
The fact of the matter is that Nazism, WWII and the holocaust did happen and many people in 1954 was looking for some kind of explanation and understanding of how Europe could descend into barbarianism. Whether the book is insightful in its association between totalitarianism and tribalism and primitive religion is a different question.
The story is a "rebuttal" in the same way that it would be a rebuttal to Animal Farm to prove that pigs are not actually able to learn to walk on two legs.
The most disturbing for me is that people interpret work of fiction as if it really happened rather then one persons speculative take. Lord of flies is made up. It is not sociological study.
Yet, the other thing is that boarding schools are notorious for bullying problem. And English boarding schools have ... particular history where older boys were allowed to beat younger boys. If we insist on making it real, that someone in charge of such school writes a book like this says less about general humanity. It says more about about how that institution was run and how he thinks they shaped the boys in their care.
The fact of the matter is that Nazism, WWII and the holocaust did happen and many people in 1954 was looking for some kind of explanation and understanding of how Europe could descend into barbarianism. Whether the book is insightful in its association between totalitarianism and tribalism and primitive religion is a different question.
The story is a "rebuttal" in the same way that it would be a rebuttal to Animal Farm to prove that pigs are not actually able to learn to walk on two legs.