#VelshiBannedBookClub: “Lord of the Flies” with Historian Rutger Bregman

When reading “Lord of the Flies” -- either for the first time in school, or the 15th time as an adult -- you cannot help but ask yourself which of the characters you would most behave like, should you find yourself stuck on a desert island. Historian and author of “Humankind”, Rutger Bregman, wanted to answer that question by finding a real-life example. Stunningly, he succeeded – stumbling across a 1966 Australian newspaper article concerning six boys who had been found on a small, rocky island south of Tonga after being marooned there for more than a year. Those boys fared much better than Piggy and Ralph. Both the book and the real life example address questions of morality, inherent good, and the role of society. One just has a little bit more of an optimistic ending.