Lord of the Flies episode 2 leaves massive unanswered question and even the book doesn't help
There's a big clue you may not have considered...
Lord of the Flies episode 2 features a brief pre-crash flashback – and it raises a question that even the book doesn’t answer.
The BBC series, developed by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne and based on William Golding’s novel, follows a group of schoolboys who end up stranded on an uninhabited island.
Little is known about exactly where the boys came from, or where it takes place (even though we know its filming locations).
While the source material is purposely vague, one question has lingered with readers for decades. After Lord of the Flies episode 2, it’s in viewers’ heads, too.
Where were the boys going in Lord of the Flies?
Episode 2, titled ‘Jack’, opens with a flashback to the boys arriving at the airport with their parents.
We get a glimpse of the aircraft: a Corinthian Air aeroplane. Sadly, this is a made-up airline, so this doesn’t give away any clues.
When we see them on the plane, we don’t hear anyone talking about their planned destination. A few seconds later, turbulence sends the plane into a freefall, and then we’re back on the island.
So, where could they be going? All we know from the book is that it’s somewhere in the Pacific. That’s an area of approximately 64 million square miles, so it doesn’t exactly narrow it down.
Lord of the Flies fans come up with theories about their destination
The biggest clue isn’t from the island itself, but when the story is said to be taking place: the 1950s.
If you thought it was set during World War II, you’d be forgiven, but also mistaken. Lord of the Flies unfolds against the backdrop of a faraway, presumably nuclear war, and it’s believed the boys were being evacuated to somewhere safe.
Considering they’re somewhere in the Pacific, that’d suggest they may be going to a more neutral wartime territory – like Australia or New Zealand.
That’d be a long flight from the UK, so perhaps they planned to stop somewhere along the way. Or, maybe, they all attended an international school in another country.
“My guess is that it was set during the Second World War. The boys were being evacuated from a school somewhere like Singapore or Hong Kong, on their way to Australia,” one user speculated on Reddit.
“It would make sense to evacuate as far as Australia or other (at the time) British islands in the Pacific,” another agreed.
In the first chapter of the book, Jack mentions that Simon fainted in “Gib” and “Addis”. If we assume that “Gib” means Gibraltar and “Addis” means Addis Ababa, it would suggest the plane was charting a course to the Pacific. But can never know for sure where it was going to end up.
Read more: Lord of the Flies BBC cast includes Harry Potter’s new Draco Malfoy and unexpected cameos
