Lord Of Flies
The film, released in 1963, is the tale of a group of upscale
British
schoolchildren who are being flown out of London to the supposed
safety of the
South Pacific before war erupts. Their airplane crashes and
the lads are left to
fend for themselves on a remote island. The storyline
takes the boys from
innocence to savagery. The film did not receive rave
reviews from critics.
"The film version takes away some of the creative
imagination that comes from
reading the story, but its images are as shocking
as one might imagine –
little boys turned into violent savages"(Webster,
Apollo Guide). The reviews
could be in part from the inexperience of the
actors. "The little boys were
almost all non-actors whose parents volunteered
them for the job out of respect
for the book" (Webster, Apollo Guide).
However, Peter Brook did an excellent
job of depicting the possible outcome
of the situation with which the children
are faced. This film shows human
nature in its truest form. Society is faced
with people who are vulnerable to
others, those who are capable of making the
right decisions, and some who
feel the need to violate the rules. Piggy,
portrayed by Hugh Edwards, is the
most vulnerable character. At the beginning,
he makes the mistake of
divulging his nickname. Piggy seems to be intelligent
and sensible, but
lacking the confidence in himself to put it to use. Jack
belittles Piggy
throughout the film. He continuously calls him "Fatty" and
at one point slaps
him in the face, which causes his glasses to break. Piggy’s
only hope is the
friendship of Ralph, who betrayed him at the beginning, only to
eventually
become his best friend. Piggy never succumbed to the savagery of the
others.
In his last words, "What is it better to be, a bunch of savages like
you are,
or sensible like Ralph is", he proves that it is possible for someone
to
remain themselves and not succumb to the pressures of others. Piggy is
the
symbol of rationality and adult society. Ralph is the character who
always tried
the orderly approach. Throughout the film, he tried to care for
the others and
be the leader that the younger children needed. However,
Ralph’s leadership is
doomed from the start. Jack’s resentment of losing the
election is evidence of
the upcoming trouble that Ralph will face. He seems
to notice signs of rebellion
after the first pig roast. When the plane flew
over and the fire was out, his
encounter with Jack signaled the breakup of
the group. Ralph’s last appeal at
civility came after Jack took the conch
away from Piggy and Ralph said, "You
are breaking the rules. The rules are
the only thing we got!" Ralph continued
throughout the film to stand by Piggy
and the younger children. Even after most
of the children left his group,
Ralph still had respect for their well being.
Jack is the antagonist of
the film. From the beginning, he is upset about losing
the election and
resents anyone who did not vote for him. He continues to act as
if he is in
charge. He continually belittles the other children and leads the
older boys
towards savagery. Jack eventually splits the group and forms his own"tribe".
They paint themselves like savages and begin to chant and have
warlike
dances. Jack seems to become more violent as his power increases
After
Simon was killed, he defended the slaying by telling the others
that it was the
beast disguised as Simon. Jack seemed to have turned into a
dictator toward the
end of the film. He is shown having the smaller children
whipped; his cruelty
eventually led to the murderous search for Ralph. This
film shows the viewer
several different personalities, all of which are in
our society. It shows the
variety of people who are forced to live in the
same world. "Golding’s novel
is the sort of fable that could shock only those
who believe in the onwardness
of civilization, as some still did in those
days. At the time of its publication
(1954), attempts were made to find
political messages in it, but today it seems
more like a sad prophecy of what
is happening in neighborhoods ruled by drugs.
What week goes by without
another story of a Ralph gunned down by a Jack?"
(Ebert, Chicago Sun Times).
It opens the eyes of the viewer for the necessity of
laws and the need for
their enforcement. It would be a sad time when the Jacks
of the world could
overpower the Ralphs.