Lord of The Flies, based on the novel by William
Golding
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Lord of the
Flies is one of the best books ever.
The Modern
Library has included it on its list of 100 Best Novels:
And the
film version is, if not another outstanding masterpiece, at the very least very
good.
Peter Brook
directs a cast of extremely gifted boy actors and he was nominated for the
Palme d’Or, in a year when The Leopard won the most coveted prize.
The tagline
chosen for the film is:
-
“Evil is inherent in the human mind,
whatever innocence may cloak it…”
Indeed,
after seeing Jack and his band in action, the audience could agree with that.
The author
of the book has given an interview that I heard in which he talked about Lord
of the Flies and its themes.
-
“If there are no rules you have
nothing”
This seemed
to be the key, according to William Golding and looking back it is easy to see
that the absence of rules might be responsible in much greater part than the
evil inherent mentioned in the tagline.
A group of
young boys is isolated on an island, without adults, supervisors or the
aforementioned rules.
-
“Jack: We've got to have rules and
obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English! And the English are best
at everything!”
Even if
Jack says that, he is the “bad one”, the boy who collects a gang around him and
they become violent.
In the
first place, it is just the pig and the game, the thrill of hunting, but Jack
wants more power, influence.
There may
be a dispute that reflects atavistic tendencies, between alpha males that want
to rule over the herd.
Ralph seems
to be the more reasonable, peaceful type, or if we speak in terms of a recent
comparison:
-
Ralph would be the bonobo and Jack
the representative of the chimpanzee that do not hesitate to kill their own
In the
middle somehow, we have another boy who is trapped and he is called Piggy, even
if he insists he does not like the nickname.
“Piggy: I've got the conch!
[the boys jeer and taunt him from above the
cliff]
Piggy: [shouts] Which is it better to be, a
pack of painted savages like you are, or sensible like Ralph is? Which is
better, to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?
[Roger goes angry and pushes a huge boulder,
which heads right to Piggy]
To all the
existing kerfuffle and chaos, another element of danger and tension is added,
as a beast comes haunting the island.
The younger
children are really scared, while the older boys pretend they are brave enough
to see off any threat.
That is
just showing off of course, for when they get to see the dead body hanging off
the cliff they run like hell.
Ralph is
indeed sensitive and reasonable, calculating and wise and he keeps reminding
the others about the fire.
They need
it for a few reasons, but the main one is that they want potential pilots in
airplanes to see the smoke.
A fabulous,
difficult to adapt book was adapted for a very good film.
The absence
of girls was explained by William Golding- with them, “the head of sex would
have been present” – I do not remember the words, but he went on with:
“Women are foolish to pretend they’re equal to
men. They’re far superior and always have been”.
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu