Lord of the Flies
From Lostpedia
Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel written in 1954 by the Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding.
The book is about a group of schoolboys trying to recreate society after being stranded on an island, only to have it break down when the darker side of human nature defies attempts to establish order. The main conflict in the book is the widening ideological gap between Ralph, the rational and moral leader who wants to establish order, and Jack, who wants a hedonistic, animalistic anarchy. Murder and mayhem ensue as the story continues and things get out of hand.
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In Lost
First mentioned by Sawyer after he captures Jin for what he believes to be his burning of the raft (later proven false) and says, "Folks down on the beach might have been doctors and accountants a month ago, but it's Lord of the Flies time now." ("...In Translation")
Later mentioned by Charlie in reference to what the tail section went through: "They seem to have had a rough time of it. It looks like they went bloody Lord of the Flies out there." ("What Kate Did")
Other Similarities & Shared Themes
- The introduction of a device that changes the plot of each work. (In the show; the discovery of the Swan. In the book; the finding of the paratrooper who is believed to be "The Beast")
- Characters who don't seem to play a major role, but help pass information across. (Sam and Eric in the book, Boone and Shannon on the show.)
- Schism between two major characters for leadership of the island (Ralph/Jack in the book, Jack/Locke on the show); in some ways, follows theme approached in title of "Man of Science, Man of Faith".
- The question of maintaining morality while promoting order in a recreated civilization (how far is too far in a fear-based society) is broached in both the latter chapters of the book and episodes of the show such as "One of Them".
- Importance of glasses (Piggy's, used for making fire in book; Sawyer's, used to read)
- Character with asthma (Piggy and Shannon)
- A castaway that feels a naturalistic connection to the Island (Simon and Locke)
- Each of these castaways have a place where they find appealing and mesmerizing. (Locke with the Hatch, and Simon with his secret area only he knows about.)
- The recurrent appearance of boars
- A rarely-seen Monster (in the book, no more than a rumor)
- A running gag of confusion between a pair of characters (in book, Sam/Eric, in show, Scott/Steve).
- Simon's not-so-accidental death in the book and Boone's death in the show are also both later rationalized as sacrifices to the island (in the former case, by Jack of the book, in the latter, by Locke in the show).
- Violence from misunderstandings and later, cold-blooded murders by characters that once attracted sympathy (Jack in the book, Michael on the show).
- In the book the boar-head "speaks" to Simon in a dream, even predicting his death. Similar to various visions on the show, in which someone is seen as dead before it happened.
- A parachutist arrives on the island and becomes entangled in a tree. In both cases, the parachutist is discovered by plane crash survivors from the island. However, in the case of the book, the parachutist is dead on arrival, whereas in the show Naomi is still alive.
- Alternately, while not a parachutist, a balloonist arrives on the island and becomes entangled in a tree. In both cases, the deceased is discovered and the dead person leads to a major discovery (no monster or mystical force is terrorizing them and Ben is not Henry Gale but rather terrorizing them).
- Two conflicting characters form their own groups from the castaways (Ralph/Jack in the book, Jack/Locke in the show).
- A character is accidently killed after being mistaken for a threat (Simon in the book, Shannon in the show). Even the weather is similar: heavy rain, leading to confusion.
See also
External links
- Wikipedia article
- Comprehensive detail on Lord of the Flies
- NovelGuide
- SparkNotes
- Contemporary review - Salon.com
