A Comparison of the Film Versions of William Golding's Lord of the Flies
We have read Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954) and also seen
the scene “the death of Piggy” in the two film versions directed by
Peter Brook (1961) and Harry Hook (1994). The black and white version
by Peter Brook is very close to the text since the characters look the
same in the film as they are described.
Harry Hooks’ intentions for this film were to make it have a lot of
action and to make money from it. Where as Peter Brook is just trying
to make a moving image of the text and he doesn’t plan to make it more
exciting.
The colour version by Harry Hook is quite different from the text
because of how it has been adapted to fit modern life. It has been
adapted so much that it isn’t really a moving image of Golding’s
novel. It is quite different because of the variations that have been
made. Such as how it is in colour and the children are American and
not English. Also they swear in this film. Harry Hooks’ intentions for
this film were to make it have a lot of action
Differences between films
In Peter Brooks’ version of the film a spear is levered under the rock
before the eventual death of piggy. This is important because it is
showing that the murder is premeditated and that the children had
intentions to kill him. In Harry Hooks’ version, one of the boys
pushes the rock. This is wrong because it is showing that Piggys death
is not necessarily premeditated and it could have just been an
accident what is not as bad as murder. In the text a spear is placed
under the rock implying that it was heavy and needed some force to
move it.
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... gives more action if it is slow motion.
· Rock hits piggy, he lies on the floor motionless, conch just falls
to the floor and doesn’t break into tiny pieces-If the conch smashed
and shattered it would give more effect and depth to how much force
the rock had.
· Close up of piggy lying on the floor with blood around his face then
shows all the boys looking at him to see what has happened to piggy.
· Shows through piggy’s eyes, all boys crowed round him and everything
is silent.
I have decided that Peter Brooks’ version of moving image is the most
accurate to the text. This is shown in my media assignment. Harry
Hooks’ aim was to make profit out of the text by adding a few changes
to make it seem more exciting, but in Fact he is changing Golding’s
intentions from what he wanted people to take from his novel.
Piggy is asking for their names. " The children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the man with megaphones"(Golding 18).The younger kids simply obey and respond to Piggy in the same way they would to an authoritative figure. The children's behavior towards piggy shows that they are still governed by civility and order. Furthermore, after blowing the conch, Ralph sees a group of boys walking in two parallel lines dressed in odd clothes. “The creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing....
English author William Gerald Golding wrote Lord of the flies as his first novel in 1954. Golding would later become famous as a novelist, playwright, and poet, yet before Lord of the flies publishers had rejected his works many times. Fortunately for Golding and future readers, his new editor Charles Monteith helped him to make some changes to the text and publish the book in September 1954 as Lord of the Flies (“William Golding” par.7). This book became hugely successful, and in 1983 Golding was awarded for it a Nobel Prize in Literature ("William Golding - Prize Presentation" par.1).
The image of Piggy slowly began to fade to the black silhouette from where the image came. Ralph was shivering and sobbing uncontrollable, sinking back down to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Please, Piggy, don’t go. Piggy! I need to know, Piggy…”
In viewing the aspects of the island society, the author William Golding's Lord of the Flies as a symbolic microcosm of society. He chooses to set the children alone in an unsupervised world, leaving them to learn ' the ways of the world' in a natural setting first hand. Many different perspectives can also be considered. Golding's island of marooned youngsters becomes a microcosm. The island represents the individual human and the various characters represent the elements of the human psyche.
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
The classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exciting adventure deep into the nether regions of the mind. The part of the brain that is suppressed by the mundane tasks of modern society. It is a struggle between Ralph and Jack, the boys and the Beast, good and evil.
Simon and Piggy’s death have similarities they are both because of people being savages. The glasses are the reason Piggy died because he couldn’t see and the reason he went to the Castle Rock was because he wanted his glasses back. Both of these deaths have to do with the conch. The breaking of the conch symbolizes the kids turning full on savage. They’ll kill people without even noticing it. After Simon's death Ralph says,”that was murder, ” (Goulding 156) these boys are too savage to even know what they did. Also when Roger pushed the rock it “struck Piggy at a glancing blow,”(Goulding 181) but Roger is too much of a savage to understand what he just
Author William Golding uses Lord of the Flies to paint a picture of the internal evil of man through a variety of different mechanisms. Ralph, while being one of the most civilized boys on the island, still shows characteristics that would indicate an inherent evil. Henry also displays a darker personality, even as he practices innocent childhood activities in the sand. The island on which the story takes place holds evidence that man possesses inherent evil, seen in the way the boys corrupt and destroy the innocence and purity of the tropical oasis, and viewed in the symbolic manner in which the island's pristine exterior shields a darker inside. The use of a stick sharpened at both ends provides evidence of the savagery of the boys, and the dead parachutist shows that the boys are blinded by their internal evil and have become so villainous that they do not even recognize a human being. Golding shows throughout the novel that evil is the prevalent force within man, and that savagery takes precedence over even childhood innocence.
Over millions of years, man has transformed from a savage, simple creature to a highly developed, complex, and civil being. In Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding shows how under certain circumstances, man can become savage. During nuclear war, a group of British schoolboys crash land on an uninhabited island to escape. Ralph the elected leader, along with Piggy and Simon, tries to maintain civilization, while Jack and his group of choir boys turned hunters slowly become savages obsessed with killing. Through characters’ action and dialogue, Golding illustrates the transformation of civil schoolboys into bloodthirsty savages.
Golding uses detail to show Ralph’s change from a civil leader to a mindless savage. When Ralph sits and pokes holes in the sand, he is “surprised” to see blood. He examines his nail and is interested, not concerned, about the blood. He originally was disgusted at the site of blood. This act shows his savage-like fascination with blood. Piggy’s development is also dependent on Golding’s use of detail. Within this passage, Piggy wipes off his glasses twice. There is a sense of paranoia and urgency in this act. Piggy wishes to disconnect from reality and does not want to admit to himself or Ralph their desperate situation. Piggy was originally the voice of reason in the novel. This simple act, however, shows he is changing into an unadmitting fool because he chooses not to see reality due to fear.
William Golding’s, ‘Lord of the Flies’, is a powerful piece of literature that teaches important perspectives on the human nature and mind. In the story, the boys plane is shot down by the the military in which it lands on a deserted island. After this event, the boys’ decide to create a civilization on the island until they’re rescued. Golding paints a realistic image of evil, hope, and order expressed through the three items: the Lord of the Flies, the fire, and the conch during World War 2. The boys believe these items will assist them, however, they end up all tearing them apart in the end: the symbols all appear to be beneficial to the situation but eventually lead to their demise. Golding effectively uses the literary device symbolism to develop the theme in the novel that chaos and destruction can occur in the most peaceful places.
Ralph spends some time contemplating over what must be said and done in the assembly because he knows that “thought was valuable” maturing from his inadequacy as a leader for allowing the group to become disorganized as it is. Ralph blows the conch to do as he has a plan and call the boys for an assembly. He intends it to be serious after the mishap of letting the fire go out which may have ruined their hope of getting rescued. He begins by telling the group that this particular assembly must not be for fun and games but to “put things straight”. He addresses the water with no one bothering to retrieve it in the coconut shells, the shelter that fell to ruins because few people worked on them, the whole island being used as a lavatory which is unsanitary and the importance of not letting the fire go out.
The text also works with the pictures throughout the story. The text is on the right page compelling the reader to turn the page to see what happens next. As Max's imagination grows so do the pictures forcing the text to the bottom of the page. The full page spreads eventually take over the entire page leaving no room for text. The pictures carry on as extensions of the story, working well to continue the story. Finally the story ends on a page of all text. A small tag line that brings closure to the story and Max's adventure. The text as well as the pictures work hand in hand to tell a complete story. Along with the various codes that were used to give depth and understanding to the story, the text positioning worked well to provide direction. Everything worked together to tell a great story.
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows a story of boys who are trapped on an island, and must figure out how to survive. The story represents the fall of mankind, as symbolism is present throughout the entire novel. It is best seen through a historical perspective. Golding uses events from his own lifetime, the Operation Pied Paper, and Hitler’s ruling to compare it to the major events, the beginning of the story, and Jack’s personality.
is left with the decision of whether or not to drop the rock. Roger is