Lord of the Flies and Cast Away

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Lord of the Flies & Cast Away Cast Away and Lord of the Flies are very similar books, albeit only on the surface. Their themes differ greatly although they have a few key similarities. Just as Tom Hanks attempts to hold on to civilization by keeping a FedEx package, Piggy attempts to maintain the rules and refuses to lose his morals despite being stranded on an island. Lord of the Flies delves much deeper into the inherit evil that exists within us and the descent into savagery whereas Cast Away deals more with the inner struggle of man. Tom Hanks must fight with himself and nature to survive rather than the boys fighting against each other or good vs. evil. The fear of the unknown is always present in both stories and this is very apparent in the fear the characters from both narratives exhibit when they look at the jungle in the dark and wonder what could be in there. One of the major themes in Cast Away is time; Tom Hanks is always concerned about being on schedule yet he never stops to appreciate the things that really matter in life. He realizes this once he is stranded on the island with nothing but time. Unlike Cast Away the major theme in Lord of the Flies is civilization vs. savagery. Ralph and Piggy attempt to remain civilized however Jack and the hunters slowly turn into savage beasts with no concern for rules. The setting and the way the characters survive in both stories is quite similar. In Lord of the Flies their plane crashes stranding them on a tropical island similarly a plane crash is the reason Tom Hanks is stranded on a tropical island. Their islands differ in the fact that the boys island is more of a paradise rather than a prison like the island in Cast Away. Food is plentiful to say the least in LOTF whereas Tom has to hunt down every morsel of food he eats. Fresh water is never a problem in both stories and just like the boys
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