Lord of the Flies and economics

[kafro]

I have to write a book review for Lord of the Flies for my economics class (go figure). In my review I have to point out how the story deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. If anyone could give me help with this I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Zolipara]

Its been years since i read it so i cant really help, but i must say its pretty unique to read it for a economics class.

 

[namedujour]

I agree. Sociology, maybe...

 

[Infinity]

I have to write a book review for Lord of the Flies for my economics class (go figure). In my review I have to point out how the story deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. If anyone could give me help with this I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

There's hardly anything in the novel Lord of the Flies that can be applied for economics. Could you tell us why you ought to read it for your economics class? That doesn't sound right at all, in my opinion. Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy, and Literature, maybe...Well, Sociology, too...but shouldn't be Economics...

 

[kafro]

ha ok yea for economics we have to do a book review and he gave us a lists of books that all have to do w/ economics, and said if we don't want to read anything on the list we could read a classical literature book and Lord of the Flies was on the list so i decided to read it. i talked to some friends and i figured it out incase you guys are interested:

In this story the children set up and use the basic original economic
system of "share in order to survive." The hunters are responsible for
the food, which would be the production of the product. Ralph and
Piggy were responsible for the distribution of the product. The
children as a whole were the consumers since they ate the food.


well there ya go thanks for the help anyway guys!

 

[Infinity]

In this story the children set up and use the basic original economic
system of "share in order to survive." The hunters are responsible for
the food, which would be the production of the product. Ralph and
Piggy were responsible for the distribution of the product. The
children as a whole were the consumers since they ate the food.

I didn't think of anything like this before. What a good mind...!

 

[jenn]

ha ok yea for economics we have to do a book review and he gave us a lists of books that all have to do w/ economics, and said if we don't want to read anything on the list we could read a classical literature book and Lord of the Flies was on the list so i decided to read it. i talked to some friends and i figured it out incase you guys are interested:

In this story the children set up and use the basic original economic
system of "share in order to survive." The hunters are responsible for
the food, which would be the production of the product. Ralph and
Piggy were responsible for the distribution of the product. The
children as a whole were the consumers since they ate the food.


well there ya go thanks for the help anyway guys!

how does what happens to piggy fit into that scheme.....

 

[skylarburris]

Economics

Well, I suppose there are a host of economic possibilities you can mull about:

Division of labor -- hunters (Jack) vs. fire makers vs. hut builders (Ralph). With that goes comparative advantage--do the thing you are good at--hunting or building huts, and then trade to get the other thing.

Communism -- "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" -- the kids are fed even though they don't really work (at first)

Scarcity -- Piggy's glasses become a rare commodity at one point, don't they, because they can be used to start a fire?

Good faith money -- the conch has value only because the society assigns it a value (much like our money is no longer backed by gold but by faith in the government); when that society loses faith in its government (when Jack rebels against Ralph), that value of the conch dissipates

But this is really stretching the story, a bit. It's not really about the economics of society; it's really about original sin and the underlying savagery coursing behind any civilization...but hey, you can cram most good literature into any cubbyhole.