Themes of The Lord of the Rings This is, according to Shippey, a very modern, 20th-century theme, since in earlier, medieval times, power was considered to "reveal character", not alter it. Shippey mentions Lord Acton's famous statement in 1887, that ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."" He then goes on to point out authors that were dealing in the same themes of power and corruption at around the same time as Tolkien wrote his work. These authors include George Orwell with "Animal Farm" (1945), William Golding with "Lord of the Flies" (1954), and T. H. White with
Lord of the Flies (The X-Files) where Dylan is covered in flies, Hank Harris wore a suit that was covered with 30,000 live flies. The opening for the episode was filmed at Cheviot Hills Park in Los Angeles. The site had previously been used for various shots in the sixth season episode "The Unnatural" and the eighth season episode "Three Words". Garfield High School in Sherman Oaks, California, stood in for Grant High School. The episode makes several references to British singer-songwriter Syd Barrett, with whom the character of Dylan strongly identifies. Barrett was the original lead singer for the rock band Pink Floyd before his