Movies - Lord of the Flies

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Lord of the Flies

	Movies - Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. It was Golding's first novel, and was published in 1954. Although it was not a great success at the time — selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States during 1955 before going out of print — it went on to become a bestseller, and required reading in many schools and colleges. It was adapted to film in 1963 by Peter Brook, and again in 1990. The title is a reference to Beelzebub (from the Hebrew name Baalzvuv בעל זבוב), a synonym for the Devil.

It is generally regarded as a classic of postwar English literature. It depicts the savagery of a group of schoolboys stranded on a desert island without any adults, in the aftermath of a plane crash, while fleeing wartime Britain. The war is presumably a World War Three, as Ralph mentions "We might get taken prisoner by the Reds.", which would not have been a concern for the British during World War Two. The book was published during the Red Scare, before the end of McCarthyism and as the Cold War was building up.

Plot summary

A number of boys crash land on a desert island, amid rumours of an atomic war. The first two characters to meet are the athletic, somewhat heroic Ralph and a bespectacled, fat boy known only as Piggy, who use a conch to call the other boys to them from across the island. One other potential leader arises from the boys - Jack, who had been leading a choir. Ralph, in fact, is elected as leader, and early on the book is full of optimism of what the boys expect to be fun. This is reflective of Ralph being a kind, democratic character, and Piggy his less popular, but intelligent back-up.

However, early on there is talk of a "beastie" - scaring a lot of the boys. The boys' first attempt to work together towards being rescued ends up in them starting a signal fire (lit by Piggy's glasses) which goes out of control, scorching half of the island. The life on the island continues to be disorganised - the major players (Jack and Ralph) have differing aims for the island, and the only person willing to co-operate with the building of shelters is Simon - who is often seen as representing religion, goodwill and spiritualism in the novel.

The descent of the boys into chaos starts, ironically, with the potential for rescue, but Jack had led a group off hunting rather than tending to a signal fire, and the ship sails past. The ensuing argument sees Piggy's glasses broken. Jack continues through the book as a tyrant, as do other members of his choir - the irony of the way these angelic children change is no accident.

A dead parachutist lands on the island, and the twins: Sam and Eric (Samneric, as they become known) assume it is the beast - causing mass panic. An expedition to investigate ends in Ralph, Jack and Roger (Jack's sadistic friend) ascending the mountain, and coming back down even quicker. The "beastie" now becomes known as a "beast". Jack denounces Ralph as a coward, and leaves his chiefdom to create a new tribe. This new tribe is quickly able to hunt down a pig, and they decide to host a feast. Before that, they sever the pig's head and place it on a stick as an offering to the "beast". Simon comes across it, seeing that it has been infested with flies, and it speaks to him, though it is through hallucination. Its messages foreshadow the fate of Simon and he faints after that. Jack's tribe hosts the feast and here, he also orders a ritualistic dance - and Simon, who has just run down from the mountain to break the news about the beast being a dead man and being talked to by the "Lord of the Flies", is mistaken as the beast and is beaten to death by the crazed boys, ultimately being drawn out to sea with the tide.

Ralph has seen his tribe dwindle in number. The larger, less civilized tribe of Jack, however, need to steal from them - Piggy's glasses allow them to light a fire. An overly optimistic Piggy demands them back, but is killed when Roger drops a strategically placed boulder on him. Jack fails to kill Ralph at this meeting, and the next day his tribe try to hunt him down. In doing this, they set up a forest fire, which is seen by a passing naval vessel - one of the ship's officers comes ashore and rescues the boys. Ralph's barely escape from death is tinged with irony, both since the forest fire started to flush him out alerts the passing ship and the boys are rescued by a ship of war, and as Ralph begins to weep for "the end of innocence", so do all the other boys. The rescue had come at an awful price.

Analysis

Many people have interpreted "Lord of the Flies" as a work on moral philosophy. The environment of the island, a paradise with all the food, water, and all the necessities, can be seen as a metaphor for the Garden of Eden. The first appearance of the "beastie" is that of a serpent, as evil appears in the Book of Genesis.

One of the major themes of the book is on the nature of evil. This is clearly seen in the conversation that Simon holds with the skull of the pig, which refers to itself as "The Lord of the Flies" (a literal translation of the Hebrew name of Ba'alzevuv, or Beelzebub in Greek). The conversation held also points to Simon as the character representing religion and goodwill in the novel, which is reminiscent of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Lord of the Flies ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Lord of the Flies; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Lord of the Flies

Plot summary

Analysis

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay