Lord of the flies book vs movie

Lord of the Flies Book VS Movie

The three major differences between the movie Lord of the Flies by Harry Hook and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding are the captain’s survival, the lack of the conch’s role and the unclear descriptions of the tension between Jack and Ralph.

The biggest difference that altered the movie from the book was the captain’s survival. In the movie, the pilot survived the crash along with the boys. Later on in the movie, the pilot becomes the “beast” as he runs away from the camp and hides himself in a cave. However in the book, the pilot dies in the plane crash and the “beast” is another pilot who crash lands on the island during the story. This is a very crucial difference because Golding’s intentions were to show that without an adult there is no order between the boys. However in the movie, Hook does not show this.

Another major difference was the lack of the conch’s role. In the book, Golding made the conch’s role clear and symbolic by making it symbolize a lot of elements. For example, it symbolized leadership because Ralph used it to gather the boys in the assembly. Also, it symbolizes order in civilization and democracy because everyone had a chance to speak with the possession of the conch. However, in the movie, Hook did not give a lot of meanings to the conch. The conch was mainly used to gather boys in the island by blowing it rather than symbolizing anything beyond its literal use. The destruction of the conch was symbolic in the book because it showed the end of democracy when the conch shatters to pieces. To the contrary, Hook did not even show the annihilation of the conch at all.

The last major difference between the book and the movie is the unclear description of the tension between Ralph and Jack as the book progresses. Every chapter, Golding showed how the relationship between Jack and Ralph worsened and how the aggression between the two became very tense. The clash for power was the reason why Jack and Ralph had a bad relationship. Jack wants the chief role but is unable to take over Ralph’s spot as chief. In the movie however, this important path is not shown. Hook also omitted some parts of the book that showed Jack’s frustration towards Ralph. For example, he omitted the part when Jack tries to outvote Ralph from the chief spot.

The three major differences show how the movie lacked specific details and how it omitted significant scenes from the book. The movie only showed the literal storyline of the book instead of showing symbolic and significant inside meanings of the book. Hook also modified some parts of the book in his movie version. But by doing so, it vaguely shows the outside storyline of the book while the novel contains deeper and symbolic meanings.