Lord of the Flies Movie vs Book

726 Words3 Pages
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a story of civilization that quickly turns into savagery. The defects of human nature are displayed through a storyline of adolescent boys stranded on an island, fighting for their humanity and praying for rescue. This intense story has been adapted into movies over time, and Harry Hook created a version in 1990. Some could argue that this most recent film outshines the book itself, for example it did not spend too much time on considerably boring events and the visually appealing setting and sound added to the viewers understanding. Yet, it is very clear that the novel is greatly inferior. Harry Hook does not quite capture the character of Piggy, fails to include important symbols, and lacks the emphasis of order. First off, the movie portrays Piggy as a whiney and generally useless character. However, the book shows a very different depiction. Piggy is one of the first characters introduced in the novel, and he is described as "the fat boy", which encourages the reader to like him and sympathize towards him, even if nobody else does. Piggy proves to have a great deal of importance as his knowledge and common sense is profound compared to the other boys among him. For example, he is the first to recognize that their chances of rescue are very slim, he knows very well that the beast isn't real, and his ideas of survival surpass the other boy’s plans. Throughout the novel, Piggy remains wise, but this voice of wisdom is ignored. It is clear only in the book that Piggy is intellectually superior and physically inferior. Additionally, the 1990 film does not spend any time to focus on symbols that played a very big role in the novel. These symbols carry out a stronger meaning than just words. They help the reader understand the author's message and purpose. For example, the imaginary beast that scares all the boys is a
Open Document