What kid did not fantasize,
at one time or another, about being left alone, completely unsupervised,
for a long period of time? Imagine your delight at being able to
say or do whatever you wanted, whenever you pleased? You could eat
what you liked, go to bed when you decided, miss school, and behave
as you please without reproach. You could be your own master. Such
a scenario is presented in the novel Lord of the Flies but the events
that unfold may not be as you had imagined.
William Golding's dark, sobering allegory, set during the Second
World War, tells the story of British schoolboys who are marooned
on an uninhabited island. As the boys struggle to adapt to their
crude but strangely exotic existence, two distinct approaches to
leadership begin to emerge. One group led by Ralph attempts to adhere
to the rules and practices of a civilized, and responsible society.
The second group led by Jack, becomes increasingly attracted to
hedonism and barbarism as reflected in their approach to leadership.
Golding's depiction of human nature paints a rather bleak picture
and holds out little hope for the future of mankind. Golding seems
to suggest that civilized behavior is an acquired state rather than
a quality that exists within all human beings. He goes further to
suggest that when the restraints imposed by civilization are removed
and we are allowed to dictate our own social and moral behaviors,
we will invariably revert back to what comes naturally. The novel
serves to illustrate Golding's point that evil is stronger, easier,
and much more seductive than goodness and is therefore man's natural
state.
As violence, terrorism and conflict escalate throughout the modern
world what story could be more topical than Lord of the Flies?
Your task will be to make scenes from Golding's novel come alive
by re-creating them in ways that appeal to our senses. Your presentation
might take any of the following forms: a one act play that you perform,
a multimedia presentation, a 2-3 minute movie, a monologue, or any
other format that appeals to a variety of our senses. |
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