The title “Lord of the flies” is a translation of the Hebrew Ba´alzevuv, a devil whose name suggests decay, destruction, demoralization, and panic. Golding´s Beelzebub is the anarchic, amoral driving force whose function seems to insure the survival of the individual. The tenets of civilization and intelligence from a veneer over the fury and the mire of human veins.

Nonetheless, Golding says that he does not know really where the story comes from and advices the reader that his own interpretation is the right one, even above that of the writer.