Golding wrote Lord of the Flies after fighting in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II. According to Keillor's TWA: "The novel tells the story of a group of boys stranded on a desert island who struggle for survival. One of the boys tries to establish a democracy, but a bunch of boys break off from the main group and it turns into violent anarchy. The book was rejected by 21 publishers before it finally came out in 1954."

The sole "intellectual" on the island, known as "Piggy", is prescient enough to know that trouble looms ahead for him, as well as for others. "We are on notice". Yes, we are. We will be killed first. ( )