Cooperation not Violence in the Real Lord of the Flies

Lord of The Flies

Like me, you might have read Lord of the Flies by William Golding when you were young. It is a grim story of a group of British schoolboys marooned on a deserted island after a plane crash who revert to cruelty and violence, even murdering one of their fellows after bullying him. I found it horrifying.

Even though it was in no way based on a true story, it has been a touchstone for many of how quickly people can turn to brutality and vicious inhumanity, an idea reinforced by many current headlines and news stories.

But these headlines and those beliefs in evil don’t tell the whole story.

Recently I was intrigued to read an article in the Guardian by Rutger Bregman called The Real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months.

Bregman did extensive research to find a real life case, when people scoffed at his prediction, based on studies of groups of boys and summer camp and other settings. that real boys would behave far differently from the boys in the novel. He came across a true story of a group of Tongan boarding school students who went out fishing, got caught in a storm, and were lucky to find an uninhabited island to be shipwrecked on.

The real boys worked collaboratively.

Unlike the boys in the fictional story, these boys set up a camp, divided tasks, handled quarrels with time outs, established a vegetable garden, and even saved one boy who had fallen of a cliff and broken his leg, setting his leg and taking care of him until it healed. They all survived in good condition and were eventually rescued.

As a conflict transformation professional, stories like this give me hope, and reinforce the work I do to help people manage conflict with kindness, listening, compassion, and understanding rather than violence and accusations. We can all choose to be like the collaborative real boys rather than the violent fictional ones.

Lorraine Segal has helped over 2000 leaders and others in organizations and corporations communicate more clearly, transform conflicts, and let go of resentments. The goal: to create a more harmonious and productive workplace. Through her business, Conflict Remedy, Lorraine creates customized training and coaching programs for non-profit organizations, corporations, and government agencies and Sonoma State University. She was recently named one of the top 15 coaches in Santa Rosa by Influence Digest. She is a contributing author to the book, Stand Up, Speak Out Against Workplace Bullying. Her latest project, a memoir called: Angels and Earthworms, an unexpected journey to love, joy, and miracles, is about her transformation from miserable self-doubt to self-acceptance, true love, spiritual awareness, and right livelihood. Find out more about the memoir here.Contact Lorraine through ConflictRemedy to request a free consultation for you and your organization or to sign up for her conflict remedy newsletter and blog.