Keyword Guide · study-guide-general
This guide breaks down the core literary elements of Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Flies for high school and college literature classes. You’ll find structured analysis, copy-ready tools for essays and discussions, and test prep checklists aligned with standard high school and intro college curricula. No overly academic jargon clogs the content, so you can pull usable notes quickly.
The Flies is Sartre’s existentialist reimagining of the Greek Electra myth, centered on themes of freedom, accountability, and the weight of collective guilt. The play rejects the idea of predetermined fate, framing choice as the defining feature of human identity, even when consequences are painful. You can use this core framing to anchor all your class work, from short response questions to full essays.
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The Flies analysis focuses on interpreting the play’s existentialist themes, character motivations, and political subtext through the lens of Sartre’s philosophical work. Analysis prioritizes how the play uses Greek myth as a framework to argue that people are fully responsible for their actions, even when societal pressure or past trauma tries to limit their choices. Most formal analysis of the work also addresses its context as a commentary on Nazi occupation and collective complicity written during World War II.
Next step: Jot down this core definition in your class notes to anchor all future analysis of the play.
Action: Read the play once straight through, marking 3 passages that stand out for their focus on choice or guilt.
Output: A 1-sentence note for each marked passage explaining what theme it connects to.
Action: Cross-reference your marked passages with the key takeaways in this guide to confirm your initial interpretations.
Output: A 3-bullet list of connections between your notes and the core thematic analysis.
Action: Practice drafting one short response to a discussion question from the kit, citing one of your marked passages as evidence.
Output: A 3-4 sentence response you can adapt for class participation or short quiz answers.
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Action: Anchor every analysis point to a specific plot event or character action, rather than vague references to themes.
Output: Analysis points that have clear, cited evidence to support your claims, which will earn higher marks on essays and quizzes.
Action: Connect your analysis to the play’s historical context when possible, to show you understand the author’s intended messaging beyond the literal plot.
Output: Deeper, more nuanced analysis that stands out during class discussion and in written assignments.
Action: Address counterarguments (such as the idea that Orestes’s actions are immoral) in your analysis to show you understand multiple interpretations of the text.
Output: More balanced, persuasive arguments that demonstrate full engagement with the play’s complex themes.
Teacher looks for: Clear, specific references to plot events or character choices that support your analysis, rather than vague claims about themes.
How to meet it: For every claim you make about the play, pair it with a 1-sentence description of a specific moment in the text that supports your point.
Teacher looks for: Understanding of how the play’s existentialist themes and World War II context shape its messaging, rather than treating it as a standalone myth retelling.
How to meet it: Add 1-2 sentences per analysis section connecting your interpretation to either Sartre’s philosophical work or the play’s wartime context.
Teacher looks for: A clear, consistent stance on the play’s themes that does not contradict itself, even when addressing competing interpretations.
How to meet it: Start every analysis assignment with a 1-sentence thesis that states your core interpretation, and check every subsequent point against that thesis to ensure alignment.
The play’s central themes revolve around existential freedom, collective guilt, accountability, and the rejection of external moral authority. Sartre uses the familiar Greek myth structure to make these philosophical ideas accessible to a general audience, framing each character’s choices as a reflection of different approaches to personal freedom. Use this list to label thematic beats as you read or rewatch the play for class.
The eponymous flies are not just a generic symbol of decay or evil. They are a physical manifestation of the collective guilt the people of Argos carry for allowing the murder of Agamemnon to go unpunished for years. When Orestes refuses to feel remorse for his actions, the flies leave Argos and follow him instead, showing that individual accountability can free a community from the weight of unaddressed past harm. Add a note next to every scene the flies appear in, tracking how their behavior shifts alongside the characters’ choices.
Orestes starts the play as a passive outsider with no connection to Argos or its traumatic past. Over the course of the story, he rejects the gods’ demands that he adhere to their predetermined moral rules, and chooses to commit murder as a deliberate act of self-definition. His choice to leave Argos and carry the flies with him is framed as the focused act of freedom, as he takes full ownership of his actions without seeking validation from others. Map 3 key moments that mark Orestes’s shift from passivity to active choice in your notes.
Electra spends most of the play resenting her mother and stepfather, and encouraging Orestes to take revenge. After the murder, however, she chooses to stay in Argos and accept punishment, rejecting Orestes’s invitation to leave with him. Her choice is not framed as a failure, but as a different expression of freedom: she defines her identity around her connection to her home and her willingness to accept the consequences of her role in the murder. Write one paragraph comparing Electra and Orestes’s choices to practice comparative analysis.
Sartre wrote The Flies in 1943, during the Nazi occupation of France. The play’s theme of collective guilt directly addresses the responsibility of French citizens who chose to comply with the occupation rather than resist. The flies represent the unspoken guilt of people who avoid taking action against injustice, and Orestes’s choice represents the radical act of resistance even when it carries personal cost. Use this context to frame your analysis if your class covers 20th century wartime literature.
Use this before class to prep talking points for discussion, or before an essay draft to build a clear, evidence-based argument. You can adapt the thesis templates and sentence starters for almost any assignment related to the play, from short response questions to full research papers. Save this guide to your study folder so you can reference it quickly when working on assignments.
Yes, The Flies is a reimagining of the ancient Greek myth of Orestes and Electra, which tells the story of Orestes’s revenge against his mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of his father Agamemnon.
The Flies is a core work of existentialist literature, reflecting Jean-Paul Sartre’s belief that people have total freedom to define their own identity through their actions, with no predetermined fate or inherent moral order guiding their choices.
The flies follow Orestes because he chooses to take full accountability for his actions, freeing the people of Argos from the collective guilt they had carried for years. His choice to carry the guilt himself is framed as an act of radical responsibility.
The play does not condone murder as a moral good, but frames Orestes’s choice as an example of authentic existential choice. Sartre’s focus is not on the morality of the act itself, but on Orestes’s willingness to take full ownership of his choice and its consequences.
Editorial note: This page is independently written for educational support. Verify specifics with assigned class materials and the original text.
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