News
September 15, 2022
A “Lord of the Flies” Simulation
GCS Staff
In preparation for reading William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a novel where a group of schoolboys finds themselves stranded on a desert island without adults, Upper School students participated in a simulation of this situation in their Humanities class. Students were put into groups and worked together to write their own “constitution,” complete with laws, rules, punishments, etc. Afterward, students were assigned various “scenarios” to contend with using only the tools they had and each other as resources. Throughout the simulation, the students reflected on their thoughts, feelings, and actions, showing that even with the best intentions and hopes to work together in a civil society, some groups dissolved into savagery. As the students will soon find out, this exercise mimics what occurs in Lord of the Flies. Having seen how easily their own rules fell apart, students will have some greater insight into the novel.
