Lord of the Flies from 1923 to 2005. Published in 1954, "Lord of the Flies" was Golding's first novel. Although it did not have great success after being released—selling fewer than three thousand copies in the United States during 1955 before going out of print—it soon went on to become a best-seller. It has been adapted to film twice in English, in 1963 by Peter Brook and 1990 by Harry Hook, and once in Filipino by Lupita A. Concio (1975). The book takes place in the midst of an unspecified war. Some of the marooned characters are ordinary students, while others arrive as a
Lord of the Flies (1963 film) sow's head impaled on a stick, left by Jack as an offering to the Beast. He becomes hypnotised by the head, which has flies swarming all around it. Simon goes to what he believes to be the nest of the Beast and finds a dead pilot under a hanging parachute. Simon runs to Jack's camp to tell them the truth, only to be killed in the darkness by the frenzied boys who mistake him for the Beast. Piggy defends the group's actions with a series of rationalisations and denials. The hunters raid the old group's camp and steal Piggy's glasses.