This is a guest post by seals.
William Golding's Lord of the Flies is set in World War II England. During this time, it was common for children to be evacuated from larger cities to protect them from German air-attacks. The novel begins with a plane full of students leaving England crashing on a tropical island, with no adults and only a handful of young children surviving.
The boys need to recreate a semblance of society and need a leader to organize them so they can be rescued. They had two options for leader: Ralph, who had a plan to build shelters for them to live in until the signal fire he wanted built attracted a rescue boat or plane to save them, and; Jack, who was already the leader of a small group of boys and wanted badly to be the leader of the whole group.
Mirroring the civilized society they had left, the boys held a vote; Ralph was chosen to be the leader. While Ralph had great ideas for keeping them safe and getting them rescued, he did not inspire people to do the work necessary to realize his plans. Instead, the other kids went off playing, swimming, and hunting.
Soon the group splits into two factions: those following Ralph and trying to keep the signal fire lit and those following Jack who turned them into hunters of wild pigs. The story leads to the ultimate conflict between the two philosophies of living to be rescued and living to survive on the island.
Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies wrestles with the conflicting impulses of living in civilization and the will to power, particularly apt to contemplate at the beginning of the Cold War. The novel also explores the clash between groupthink and individuality as well as rational versus emotional responses. The Nobel Prize committee affirmed the greatness of the novel and in 1983 awarded William Golding the Nobel Prize for Literature for Lord of the Flies.
Things to look out for
Producers of the show have made it no secret that Lord of the Flies has been a major influence on Lost. Beside the obvious story similarities, there are some subtle crossovers between the two.
- Both Lost and Lord of the Flies begin with a plane crash on a deserted island. Just as Ralph and Jack battle for leadership of the group in Lord of the Flies, so too do Jack and Locke struggle for the leadership of the group, eventually leading to a fissure between the so-called 'Team Locke' and 'Team Jack' in the fourth season.
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Lord of the Flies is referenced directly twice on Lost. During "...In Translation" Sawyer threatens Jin after Sawyer believes Jin burned the raft.
SAWYER
You're pretty scared, huh? Scared, you understand scared, don't you? Huh?
If you ain't, you're going to be, Bruce. Folks down on the beach might have been doctors and accountants a month ago, but it's Lord of the Flies time, now.
- Later in "What Kate Did" Charlie mentions to Kate about how difficult the tail section survivors had it.
CHARLIE
Oh, right. A few of them came -- the new people. Not her -- the one who killed Shannon. That would have been a bit awkward. They seem to have had a rough time of it. It looks like they went bloody Lord of the Flies out there.
- Both stories also have a "monster" that impels fear deep into the hearts of everyone who sees it. In each story, though, one character interacts with the monster. In Lord of the Flies, Simon discovers the truth behind the monster, but is unable to tell anyone that the monster is innocuous because of his crippling fear of public speaking. On Lost, Locke looks "into the eye of the monster" and saw beauty, but refused to say exactly what he saw. It is obvious that Locke wasn't scared of the monster anymore, though, because he intentionally tried to get captured by it in the first season finale.
Character Connections
While there are no true one-to-one character relationships between Lost and Lord of the Flies, there are some interesting character similarities.Locke
Locke shares character traits with several characters. He begins akin to the Lord of the Flies character Jack. Both share the desire to build life on the island and take active measures to remain there. Jack allows the signal fire to burn out (and thus the boys miss signaling a boat passing close by) while Locke knocks out Sayid as he attempts to triangulate the radio tower's location.
Both Locke and Jack also evolve into the hunters of the group, and both hunt boar.
The longer Locke stays on the island, though, the closer Locke's connection to the island grows, this is similar to Simon. Simon's epilepsy allows him to see the island in a way that the others cannot, and thus discovers the true identity of the monster as well as what is causing the boys to devolve into monsters themselves.
In season three's Further Instructions, Locke constructs a sweat-lodge and consumes a hallucinogen so that he can communicate with the island in the same way as Simon talks to the so-called Lord of the flies.
Locke also believes the island is talking to him when he is marking Mr. Eko's grave. The sunlight hits Eko's staff, highlighting the inscription which reads "lift up your eyes and look north, John 3:05." John begins heading north which leads him to The Flame and then to where the Others are keeping Jack.
Jack
At the beginning of the series, Lost's Jack seems to share many qualities with Ralph in the novel. Both are looked to as a leader while not really wanting the mantle of leader thrust on them however both grow into the role awkwardly.
As the series continues, though, Jack develops more into a Lord of the Flies Jack (confusing, we know), allowing his emotions--especially hurt, pride and anger--to dictate his actions instead of logic.
Sayid
Roger, Jack's right hand man, relishes the more debased actions that Jack demands. He takes on the role of torturer. The most obvious connection to Lost is with Sayid and his past as a torturer (not to mention his torturing Sawyer on the island) and his future as Ben's hit-man. Though Sayid's conflict with all those roles sets him apart from Roger. Another character who seems to delight in cruelty is Pickett. Even before his wife is killed, Pickett abuses Sawyer while Saywer and Kate are in the bear cages.
Hurley
Some have made the connection between Hurley and Piggy, but we don't see much resemblance except that both are overweight. Piggy is the voice of reason but his suggestions are derided and ignored because the other boys don't like him. Hurley, on the other hand, is one of the only characters that is universally liked by other characters and has his suggestions listened to and implemented.
Where to read
- Amazon has the novel available in many formats.
- Barnes and Noble also has Lord of the Flies available in many formats.
- Half.com has the best prices with used as well as new books.
- Powells again has some of the best prices as well as being a great independent bookstore.
What do you think? Have you made other connections between Lost and Lord of the Flies or do you disagree with some of ours? Let us know.
