Lord of the Flies and the Tv Show Lost

Lost in Lord of the Flies The book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, first published in 1954, became a very successful novel over the years. In 2004, ABC first launched the hit TV show Lost. These two have extreme similarities between each other, and Lost would not exist without Lord of the Flies. The mix of intrigue, survival skills and critique on human nature has made both the show and the book such respectable hits over the years. The similarities between these two are more than coincidental, having almost the same beginnings, same main character name, and both being stranded on islands. Lost has not copied the book by any means, but if looked at closely enough many similarities can be spotted. At the start of both, the characters first arrive on a deserted island by crashing in a plane. In Lord of the Flies, a plane gets hit during WWII; in Lost, an airliner crashes from turbulence and electronic problems. In addition, only select characters survived the plane crash. Both beginnings are similar to each other and are identically dramatic. In Lord of the Flies, only the children survived, and the children had no single adult authority. Also, in Lost, there were many adults around, and none of the adults truly claimed authority over the others. This setting creates many trust issues and leadership gets challenged many times. In addition to this, Jack in Lord of the Flies is very similar to Jack in Lost. They both have challenged authority and don’t always listen to the most reasonable responses. In addition, both Jacks can be seen to have a corrupt and unfaithful personality at different points. Even when Jack in the novel is first introduced he is described as, “His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness” (Golding 21). This harsh description sets him to having an evil personality, and he goes on to kill Piggy and Simon in “tribal savagery” (Golding, Sir William Gerald). The Jacks both make decisions and get people killed from their

Cited: "Golding, Sir William Gerald." Britannica Book of the Year, 1994. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9111964>. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 1954. Print.