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Golding both parallels and parodies the classic adventure story "The Coral Island" by Robert Michael Ballantyne, published in 1858 and he regarded his novel "Lord of the Flies" as a modern fable, which can be enjoyed on simple or very complex levels.
Today it is a standard novel, the structure is dictated by the characters and the setting, which is very important in this case.
Golding places his characters on an island. By its nature it's isolated; there is no outside influence and nothing to distract the boys from their true nature. It is a tropical Garden of Eden, complete with serpent.
The novel is written chronological and in an auctorial style, since the author knows everything about the boys.
Golding characterises the people on the one hand direct and on the other hand indirect through their speeches and the way they act. There are a lot of dialogues and hardly indirect speeches.
There are three blocks of action and development. In the first four chapters Golding introduces the reader into the island, the characters and their behaviour. In the middle section the development of differences, fears and obsession are shown. The solution of those conflicts with death and finally, rescue are described in the last four chapters.
"Lord of the Flies" contains examples of allegory, metaphors, irony, slang, symbolism and imagery.
Golding's use of irony is highly important for the massage of the book. For example, when Simon returns to the group with the truth about the "beast" he is killed before he can tell his news.
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