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Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies
Author
William Golding
Publisher
Faber and Faber. Ltd
Publish Date
1954
1573226122

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.

Contents

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")

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.
  • Both stories take place on a jungle island far removed from civilization.
  • Both stories explore themes that question the true nature of Man. Lord of the Flies depicts savage behavior of young boys (subtly juxtaposed to adults engaged in global war) to illustrate the author's views about human nature. Lost uses the theme of "Tableau Rasu" (the idea that humans are born with a 'Clean Slate') and the dialog between Jacob and his nemesis in the opening scene of the Season 5 finale also seems to hint at some underlying conflict over the nature of people. Lost also brings up baptism which is a Christian tradition that deals with Original Sin: the idea that humans are born with innate evil that must be washed away due to Adam and Eve eating the apple from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden as described in the book of Genesis.
  • The use of boars is common to both stories. They are used as both a primary source of food and possible symbols for something else. In Lord of the Flies the boar's head is the Lord of the Flies, a name sometimes used to refer to Satan or Evil. Pigs in literature are used to mean different things but more often than not they are a symbol for unsanitary, unscrupulous, and/or gluttonous scavengers. The animal is forbidden from Judiac and Islamic diets for various reasons. It is not clear what, if anything, boars represent in Lost but it may be revealing that it was Locke's animal of choice and it is the animal the new Locke (perhaps now under the control of Jacob's Nemesis) brought to Richard and the Others in season 5.

Characters

  • A number of comparisons can be made between Jack Shephard and John Locke on Lost and Jack Meridew and the Lord of the Flies protagonist Ralph.
    • Jack Shephard shares a first name with the antagonist of Lord of the Flies: Jack Merridew.
    • Jack on Lost has dark hair and Ralph has dark hair. Jack Merridew has red hair and although Locke is bald, his hair color and skin are fairer than Jack's.
    • Jack Merridew represents power lust and primal aggression. He is a savage hunter that kills boar primarily. John Locke is a hunter whose prey of choice is boar.
    • Ralph is motivated more by reason and his leadership style is more democratic. Jack Shephard is the so-called Man of Science. Science and Reason could be synonymous in this context.
    • In both stories there is a Schism between the two characters as they both struggle for power. In both stories people must ultimately make a choice about which leader to follow.
    • While Jack Shephard may share personality traits with Lord of the Flies' protagonist Ralph, Locke does not necessarily share many personality traits with the Lord of the Flies' antagonist Jack Meridew. His latest manifestation as Jacob's Nemesis however may or may not have more in common.

See also

External links

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After All These Years • Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret • The Bible • A Brief History of Time • The Brothers Karamazov • Carrie • Catch-22 • Dirty Work • The Epic of Gilgamesh • Everything That Rises Must Converge • Evil Under the Sun • Lancelot • Laughter in the Dark • The Little Prince • Lord of the Flies • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge • The Odyssey • The Mysterious Island • Of Mice and Men • Our Mutual Friend • Rainbow Six • A Separate Reality • The Shape of Things to Come • Slaughterhouse-Five • Stranger in a Strange Land • A Tale of Two Cities • The Third Policeman • To Kill a Mockingbird • The Turn of the Screw • VALIS • Watership Down • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz • A Wrinkle in Time • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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