Lord of the Flies/ Mean Girls

Practice Essay: Drama Unit
Question: Lord of the Flies resonates today as it deals with ideas and values that are relevant to contemporary audience.

The play by Nigel Williams, ‘Lord of the Flies’, adapted from William Golding’s novel of the same title, deals with ideas and values that are relevant to contemporary audience as they were when the novel was written after Golding’s first-hand experience in World War Two. The events of the war influenced Golding to incorporate themes of civilization versus savagery, loss of innocence and anarchy. Due to the experiences of the playwright, Tina Fey, through high school, these universal themes are also evident in a twenty-first century film entitled, ‘Mean Girls’, directed by Mark Waters. Although the portrayal of the themes are divergent, the two texts remain the same in its underlying message of the inert evil intertwined with the human psyche.

The idea of civilization versus savagery explored in ‘Lord of the Flies’ is depicted through the journey of several English private-schoolboys stranded on an island during World War two. With the assistance of lighting and costume, the responder is positioned to witness the reshaping of the boys’ values and their integration into savagery. As their time on the island progresses, the lighting on the stage becomes darker and their uniforms are reduced to tatters or nudity. This dramatic technique evokes an eerie atmosphere and emphasises the idea of savagery taking over the once civilized schoolboys. “It has to be names like at school doesn’t it? Otherwise we’ll all end up like a lot of savages”, and, “…when the beast is in someone you have to kill them, like we killed Cambourne. That was all right”, mentioned by Jack in act 1 and act 3. This transition from leader of the choirboys to justifying murder highlights the theme of civilization versus savagery and the morphing of values and morals when one’s survival is at risk. Although its form has altered, the idea of savagery...