Six Boys Marooned In A Real-Life 'Lord Of The Flies' Scenario Went To Uncomfortable Lengths To Survive
In the waters off the Pacific island of Tonga, six boys are caught up in a violent storm. Then after eight days drifting listlessly through the waves, they wash up on a deserted island with no means to contact the outside world. Will they manage to work together and survive? Or will a real-life Lord of the Flies play out as hunger and madness take their toll?
Yes, this really happened back in 1965. In June of that year, the boys set out from Tongatapu – the main island in the sprawling Tongan archipelago. Aged between 13 and 16 years old, Fatai Latui, Sione Fataua, Kolo Fekitoa, Tevita Fifita Sioloa, Luke Veikoso and Mano Totau had their hearts set on a wild adventure. But they would end up getting far more than they bargained for.
Driven from their intended course, the young men wound up on the shores of ‘Ata, a depopulated outcrop in the far south of the islands. Over 100 miles from home, they were forced to depend on their wits – and each other – to survive. And before long, a scenario eerily similar to one in Lord of the Flies began to unfold.
But did the Tongan boys succumb to the same fate as the characters in William Golding’s famous novel? Did they turn against each other as they struggled to survive on their island home? Or does the truth say something a little more hopeful about the nature of mankind? Well, what really happened on ‘Ata may just surprise you.
And if you don’t remember the events of Lord of the Flies, you may be struck by how life so closely followed fiction – to begin with, anyway. The classic book tells the tale of a group of British schoolboys marooned on a Pacific island after an airplane crash. At first, the children are delighted to find themselves in what looks like paradise, with no adults around to tell them what to do. But this fantasy doesn’t last.
