Chapter 1:
"Here was a coral island."
Chapter 2:
"While we're waiting we can have a good time on this island.
He gesticulated widely.
"It's like in a book."
"Treasure Island--"
"Swallows and Amazons--"
"Coral Island--"
Chapter 12:
"I [officer] know. Jolly good show. Like the Coral Island."
The parallels between Coral Island and Lord of the Flies are obvious. First there is the direct reference of the characters and the narrators to the island. Then there is the obvious connection between the two books with plot (wrecked on an island, no adults, good island) and characters' names (Ralph, Jack and Peterkin)..
Coral Island is the story of three boys named Ralph, Jack and Peterkin (Peter the Apostle is also called "Simon,"). Ralph is the main character and the narrator. These boys are among a larger group that boarded ship from England. Thrown overboard in a shipwreck, the three boys find themselves together on a coral island in the South Seas with no adults from their own society. Here, they convert a pirate, help a native "heathen" to marry the Christian chief whom she loves, and see the "savages" burn their idols and embrace the Gospel, as they leave to sail home.
Golding was obviously aware of the twist he was playing on Coral Island with his Lord of the Flies. Where the boys in Ballantyne's books do "good" and exemplify "Christian morals" and good works, Golding's boys bring destruction, death, and evil to each other and the island.
Swallows and Amazons is a most enjoyable tale of six children, two small sailboats, and a "desert island" which was, however, located in a lake in the north of England. Captain John, Mate Susan, Able-Seaman Titty and Ship's Boy Roger sail the good ship Swallow, explore the lake and the island, their imagination and ingenuity turning the lake into the South Atlantic and finding in the English lake district "savages," "natives" and everything else necessary for their seafaring careers. When Nancy and Peggy Blackett, master and part owner, respectively, of the Amazon, sail into the harbour under skull and crossbones and attempt to seize the Swallows' camping place, they supply a realistic touch of piracy. After a war, conducted according to rule and in a spirit of fairness and reason, the Swallows and Amazons agree to become allies against "Captain Flint," the "houseboat man who in real life is the uncle of the Amazons. The good sportsmanship of the children brings him out of his gloomy mood and he joins their game, playing the part assigned to him with zest and dramatic effect. At the end there is a real treasure hunt and if the box which Able-Seaman Titty's persistence is responsible for finding did not contain the traditional pieces of eight, its contents were even more valuable to "Captain Flint." Nowhere does the story exceed the bounds of possibility. One of the most lifelike characters is an understanding mother, who herself an experienced sailor and camper, knows how to keep in touch, without interfering or breaking the spell of the game. (review New York Times Book Review, 5th April, 1931)
This novel is not as closely associated to Lord of the Flies as was Coral Island. Golding's mention of Swallows and Amazons is a satirical reference. Where the children in Swallows and Amazons learn to follow rules and set up a society that can work together., Lord of the Flies shows the opposite. Rules, structure, etc., breakdown and the "spirit of reason and fairness" is replaces with brutal, sadistic pleasure.
Stevenson’s most famous novel and an enduringly popular romance, Treasure Island was published in 1883, although it had appeared initially in Young Folks in serial form July 1881-June 1882 under the alternative title of "The Sea-Cook or Treaure Island". It is of course the author’s success, but the novel’s conception is interesting. It developed from an imaginary map that Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne had devised on holiday and this goes some way towards explaining the book’s appeal among children. Moreover, the famous antihero Long John Silver was the invention of Stevenson’s friend, William Henley. Nonetheless, the tale is the archetypal nineteenth century ‘ripping yarn’. Our narrator is Jim Hawkins, son of a guesthouse owner on the west coast of England sometime in the eighteenth century. To the inn come firstly an old buccaneer who has a map of Captain Flint’s treasure, and secondly a group of pirates under the command of ominous blind man Pew. Jim Hawkins, our hero, in an act of bravery and cunning gets hold of the map before this rabid mob gets it. He delivers the map to Squire Trelawney, and together they set off for Treasure Island in the Squire’s schooner. The rest of the crew, apart from Dr Livesey (a friend of the squire) are a company collected by Long John Silver. The latter and his men try to mutiny and get hold of the treasure themselves but Jim intervenes and through a series of enthralling adventures we find ourselves on Treasure Island with the marooned Ben Gunn and ever closer to the treasure itself.
This novel is the least connected to Lord of the Flies. Perhaps Golding chose it because it represents the love of adventure. This fictional adventure is what Ralph and the other boys were ready to experience.