Lord of the Flies - novel by William Golding (1954) Essay Example for Free

Lord of the fly novel by William Golding (1954) EssayIn this essay I will be comparing the three approaches to the incident of porcines death. This is a very significant moment in the Lord of the Flies and symbolises how outcasts be treated in a broken down golf-club. I will be comparing the novel by William Golding, with the film by Peter live on and the film by enkindle Hook. The original record was written directly later World War 2, which had a great influence on how Golding clear-cut to plan and write his intensity. The original book is the true Lord of the Flies, and the films ar adaptations of the original novel. The film that was made in 1961 by Peter Brook was a very coterminous interpretation of the original novel.The characters be the same, the setting is same, and the whole myth loosely follows the same pattern as the book. Brook commitd cardinal boys, aged eight to fourteen with non-acting backgrounds, as they on the whole came from a randomly picke d London school. He took them to an island off Puerto Rico for 3 months, in which time he filmed this masterpiece, which was ground breaking at the time and closely followed the book. It was original and daring, and was filmed in black and white with restricted amount of equipment. In contrast, the here and now film produced by Harry Hook in 1994, which was based on the same idea, hardly was set in different situations.The audience he was attracting require much more action and adventure, which the old version doesnt show and would probably be laughed at by Hooks audience. The film needed to be original, which it was to his audience, but he cleverly used the book and the other film as a basis on which to fabricate his ideas. The film, Lord of the Flies by Harry Hook was filmed in colour, with American actors playing as army cadets with mod cons such(prenominal) as army knives and watches. Changes such as including adults in the story and use of backbreaking language add a twist to the original novel, and which isnt portrayed in the 1961 version. It moves completely away from Goldings original narrative, and his initial intentions.The opening diagonal is similar in the three versions of Lord of the Flies, but also has differences. The differences betwixt the two films vex evident at the opening of the circumstance. As the thundering waves ar hurled against the sharp, jagged rocks with the darkeningness and savagery within them, the scene becomes clear. Brook turns to the boys walking along, you beneficial know that something is exhalation to happen. In the Peter Brook film, the coastline is the main feature, with the boys looking small, walking along. The faces of the boys are not so easy to depict until they get close enough. Ralph, scenee and SamnEric, are looked down on by the camera, with the commanding rocks and the well-situated sea all around.However, the boys dont settlem to be put off by this and look positive and intentional in their visit. In comparison, the Hook film shows the cinch to be not so dark and suspicious, but more religious and sacrificial. The background noise of the crashing waves is substituted with choral singing. This time, we only see Ralph and gross approaching the rocks. loutish is wearing full cadet uniform and appears not to be having problems with his sight. The boys are at the same level, and the darkness and savagery seems to be lost from this film. some(prenominal) films pay back followed the idea of the book, Hooks version more loosely than Brooks film. Neither mentioned how much Ralph was injured or his ragged appearance as in the novel, Ralph went frontmost, lameness a little, a fizgig carried over one shoulder.The films left this out because it may well have not appealed to their audiences, as the hero doesnt look perfect, oddly with the later film. Hook also left out SamnEric in the advancing bunch. Golding, who wrote the original Lord of the Flies, starts this scene by retelling some of the plot. He reminds the reader how such a beautiful island has been effected by society, and how individuals can ruin things for everyone. The sky and the mountain were at an immense distance, shimmering in the heat and the reef was lifted by mirage, floating in a kind of silver pool half-way up the sky. This little interlude reflects on the past, and will maybe add more furbish up to the incidents to come. Golding also mentions fire, which reminds the reader of how Jack stole the glasses off helpless Piggy, to use for their own comfort and as a aid for a formulation fire.The first sign of conflict between Jack and Ralph is when they meet. They start to argue and quarrel, and tension is built up within this period. This is the same with all three texts. Ralph intentions are clear as he approaches, but Jack wants none of it. In the novel, Golding has built up the tension with words he uses, Ralphs temper blazed out. The sentences are terse, and not very descript ive. The main feature of the scene, the fight, is portrayed similarly in all three texts. They attack each other vigorously, and the real conflict and anger between the two groups is apparent. In the film, by Brook, the camera can be used to aid the build up of tension as well as the dialogue. The short camera angles used reflect Goldings staccato language.The camera looks up to Jack, and down to Ralph. He appears in a definite commanding position. The camera follows jack face, which appears dark against the rock, and is hidden whenever Ralph speaks to hide his thoughts. He wears a mask to hide his face, which is savage and nuisance. Prior to the fight, the camera sways to Jacks barbarous face, with him holding his spear, with only the point showing. This shows the abandon and spite within Jack. This is shown similarly in the Hook film, but Jack doesnt wear a mask, so we see more of his face.However, Hook has decided to use stronger language to convey the anger between the two bo ys. Hook chose similar camera movements and patterns to Brooks film, as they seemed to show the positions of the characters well and would appeal to his modern audience. Ralph and his doughnut are portrayed as the lower, weaker force, and Jacks rabble are shown as being in control. The main feature, the fight, is depicted equally in the three texts. Both sides seem angered, and in Hooks film, the loss of society is also shown. Ralph, usually the well-balanced, even-tempered individual, is lowered to such means as fighting. On the other hand, that is Jacks usual way of settling things.Roger has a strong influence on Piggys death and plays a significant role, in all three interpretations of the Lord of the Flies. Roger is first introduced into the scene in the novel, when he starts to toss rocks at Ralph. His physical appearance is kept a secret and is only released when he pushes the lever, Roger, with a sense of aroused abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever. Roger is int roduced earlier on in Brooks film. What we see of Roger is a godly figure, with his face outlined to the sky. Hook shows us a close up of Rogers face from below. He is painted with black paint around the eyes and mouth, which looks like deep hollows in which evil is to be found.He is a symbol of evil and power and as a slight grimace creeps along his face, the audience is shocked by this terrifying image. His intentions become clearer as the scene advances. A long period of time is spent on him, so does the amount we see of him. When the camera shows us his hand going towards the lever, the anticipation is built up, with the climax of him releasing it with great force, pounding down onto Piggys head. Roger is not so well shown in Hooks film. Most of the time he is hidden by the cliff edge and the other savages, but once the stone is released, Rogers face is no longer mysterious, but is clear. This makes the audience feel misgiving and fear towards Roger.Piggy is the main character in the scene, and is based on the character first developed in Goldings novel in both the book and the films. Piggy has similarities and differences in the films, but the main feeling of Piggys character is conveyed quite well. In Peter Brooks film, Piggy is uneasy rough the situation, poised on the steep rocks which seem to fall into hell. He is wearing full uniform, showing his intentions to keep rules. The camera is overhead, and makes us feel pity for Piggy who is helpless. In the build up to the death, the camera focuses on short close-up shots of Piggys face to show his hopelessness and anxiety. Piggys voice is blurred by the natural sounds of the roaring of the sea crashing against the rocks. Ralph forgets what he came for, and Piggy knows this. This has an effect on the audience to feel empathy for Piggy.Harry Hook has changed Piggys character, to fit his wants and his audiences wants. He doesnt make Piggy as disabled as Brook does in his film. He allows Piggy to be able t o see fairly well and able him to stand on the same level platform as Ralph. Piggy isnt left out or forgotten during the fight, and can be seen in the shots of the fight, standing in the background. In the book, Piggy seems extremely scared and worried of what was about to happen as he clings onto the steep sided rock face. Am I safe? quavered Piggy. I feel awful-. Brooks film is better on pickaxe up on the idea that Piggy is supposed to be very disadvantaged. Piggys emotions are shown well in all three texts, as a close up in the film, or as strong description in the novel.The murder is the main feature in the scene we are studying. It has a strong impact on the audience in all of the texts and is transmitted differently in each. In the novel, Piggys death is compared to a pig after his death, which is rather ironic, Piggys implements of war and legs twitched a bit, like a pigs after it has been killed. The language used here is very severe and looks as thought Golding doesnt rea lly care about what has just happened to Piggy. After this there is a silence all around, until it is disturbed by a little speech between Jack and Ralph, followed by Jack throwing his spear at Ralph, which thus leads him to run away, with spears coming at him from all directions.This isnt shown in either of the films, and in Brooks film, nothing is said, and Ralph just flees. Brook has a lengthy build up to his death scene in his film. Hints are dropped all the time, with the camera continually looking at the rough sea and jagged rocks, then at Piggys confused face. Brook supports Goldings language, with only a few minor changes. In the build up to the climax, the camera continually switches between Piggy and Roger, with longer shots to Roger as we get ever closer to the climax. Also, the noise of the jeering boys gets louder, and sounds more and more like air raid sirens, which adds to the effect of anticipation. This is obviously significant because it indicates the society the boys have just left, and shows the links to situations of which Golding has just witnessed before he wrote his novel, and of the tragedy of war. However, this is something that Brooks audience may not clearly remember so wouldnt be so obvious in his film.The final shot of Roger is of him pushing down on the lever as with Goldings novel. The face looks emotionless until the rock is released, when a wide, evil smirk smears across his face. The camera stays still to make Roger look as though he is pushing harder, as he moves out of the shot. We see the rock rolling down, and then we see Piggys viewpoint of the rock above, coming straight, bang down onto his head. Immediately as the rock hits Piggy, the jeering comes to a halt, and all is left is the roaring sounds of nature. All, including Jack seem shocked, but Roger is not. The camera switches between the characters showing their disbelief of that which Roger had just done. To end the lengthy scene, Brook has a shot of Ralph looking in commiseration down to Piggy. The camera is then just left still as Ralph scurries over the rocks.Harry Hook has changed the death scene in his film to suit his modern audience. Brook has kept close to the language with Piggys speech, and has only changed a few parts to suit more to his audience. In the shot where Roger releases the rock, the director shows the shot from Ralphs point of view. As the rock falls, Ralph shouts NO in a slow motion speech. Piggy is oblivious to the situation cod to his eyesight. He says nothing, and just falls flat onto the rock and lies there in a pool of blood. This loosely follows the original text by Golding. Golding described how Piggy was knocked into the water and got washed away, whereas there was no sight of this in Hooks film. Youre not gonna get away with this says Ralph after the death. Jack thinks logically and says that Ralph was on his own, which he most definitely was. The speaking is then terminated by the boys throwing stones at Ral ph as he speeds away along the beach.All three versions of the Lord of the Flies are interpreted differently, but use the same original story line written by William Golding. All are effective, but some are more so than the others. Personally, I think that Peter Brook directed the best film. This is because it was more appealing to the audience at that time, it was more successful and it follows the book much closer than the other film, which was directed by Harry Hook. However, I do like the book for the detail and originality within it. To me the text vividly describes the sights of standoff and the dramatic feelings of loss and grief felt by the societies at this particular time of World War 2. At the time the book was written, which was just after the war, total communities had witnessed such devastation as was described in the book. They could relate directly to the savagery and the way the murder was committed in cold blood. I feel the book also cleverly puts the characters i nto stereotypes of the time, showing how certain communities and their structures can be so easily destroyed.