Lord of the Flies - Parallels and Differences Between Golding's Novel and Hook's Cinematic Adaption

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1.0, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar), course: Cinematic (Re-) Creation, 26 entries in the bibliography, language: English, comment: This paper investigates some of the key aspects of "Lord of the Flies," such as characterisation, narration, and symbolism. It discusses some of the philosophical theories which the novel is based on (i.e. Hobbes, Rousseau). Furthermore the book's role as an anti-robinsonade will be taken into account. The second part of the paper will contrast the novel against the filmic adaptation by Harry Hook and point out some parallels and differences between the two pieces of work., abstract: Lord of the Flies was first published in 1954 and from then on has been read by millions of pupils, students and adults. Today the book is still popular as it deals with a subject that is timeless and fundamental: the human struggle between civilisation and the savage instinct. The book is a fable showing how the inherent evil in man's nature threatens order in a society. Golding uses an allegorical story to illustrate this threat to civilisation. Because of it's timeless topic and because it is an ideal showcase for allegorical structure and literary analysis the novel has been dealt with in numerous school lessons and university courses. This paper gives an overview of some aspects of Lord of the Flies which are important for understanding the text and interpreting the film. I will first investigate how the characters are presented in the book and comment on some narrative aspects. I will then go on to discuss the role of the book as an anti-robinsonade in the historical context of the English novel. I will also point out some philosophical aspects of Lord of the Flies. I am going to focus on aspects of the view of human nature as argued by Thomas Hobbes in his book The Leviathan and contrast it against the philosophy of Jean Jacq