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Lord of the Flies Actors Packet

Carnegie Mellon University, School of Drama Production
Directed by Caden Manson
November 2015
Holly Dennis, Dramaturg
Email: hdennis@andrew.cmu.edu

Quotes by William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies (the novel)

Golding on Interpretation:
There have been so many interpretations of the story that I'm not going to choose between them.
Make your own choice.
They contradict each other, the various choices. The only choice that really matters, the
only interpretation of the story, if you want one, is your own. Not your teachers, not your
professors, not mine, not a critics, not some authoritys.
The only thing that matters is, first, the experience of being in the story, moving through
it. Then any interpretation you like. If its yours, then that's the right one, because whats in a
book is not what an author thought he put into it, its what the reader gets out of it.
Golding on Girls and Lord of the Flies:
When girls say to me, very reasonably, why isnt it a bunch of girls? Why did you write this
about a bunch of boys? Well, my reply is: I was once a little boy - I have been a brother, I have
been a father, I am going to be a grandfather. I have never been a sister, or a mother, or a
grandmother. That's one answer.
Another answer is of course to say that if you - as it were - scaled down human beings,
scaled down society, if you land with a group of little boys, they are more like scaled-down
society than a group of little girls would be. Dont ask me why, and this is a terrible thing to say
because I'm going to be chased from hell to breakfast by all the women who talk about equality this is nothing to do with equality at all. I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to
men, they are far superior and always have been. But, one thing you can't do with them is take a
bunch of them and boil them down, so to speak, into a set of little girls who would then become a
kind of image of civilization, of society.
The other thing is - why aren't they little boys and little girls? Well, if theyd been little
boys and little girls, we being who we are, sex would have raised its lovely head, and I didnt
want this book to be about sex. Sex is too trivial a thing to get in with a story like this, which was
about the problem of evil and the problem of how people are to live together in society, not just
as lovers or man and wife.

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Table of Contents:
I. The Novel: Lord of the Flies by William Golding3
o William Golding
o Historical Context
o Reception
II. Our Adaptation: Lord of the Flies by Nigel Williams...5
o Nigel Williams on his adaptation
o Other productions
o Other adaptations
III. Philosophy + Lord of the Flies..7
o Nietzsche and the Will to Power
IV. The Psychology of Lord of the Flies.8
o Social Psychology
o Groupthink, Diversity, Aggression, and Decision Making
o Stanford Prison Experiment
V. Contemporary Commentary..10
o Destruction
o Social Media
o Bullying

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I. The Novel: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Originally published: 1954
William Golding (1911-1993)
English novelist, playwright, and poet
Lord of the Flies was Goldings first novel, and is his most famous work.
Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 for his body of work.
Many of his works explore mans capacity for evil, but they are, however, not only
sombre moralities and dark myths about evil and about treacherous, destructive forces
they are also colourful tales of adventure which can be read as such, full of narrative joy,
inventiveness and excitement. Press Release for the Nobel Prize in Literature, October
1983
Context:
WWII:
Golding was born in 1911 in Cornwall, England, and studied English literature at Oxford.
In 1940, a year after England entered World War II, Golding joined the Royal Navy,
where he served in command of a rocket-launcher and participated in the D-Day invasion
of Normandy. Goldings experiences in WWII had a strong impact on his outlook on life:
In one of his essays [Golding] describes how, as a young man, he took an optimistic
view of existence. He believed that man would be able to perfect himself by
improving society and eventually doing away with all social evilThe second world
war changed his outlook. He discovered what one human being is really able to do to
another. And it was not a question of head-hunters in New Guinea or primitive tribes
in the Amazon region. They were atrocities committed with cold professional skill by
well-educated and cultured people - doctors, lawyers, and those with a long tradition
of high civilization behind them. They carried out their crimes against their own
equals. He writes: I must say that anyone who moved through those years without
understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind
or wrong in the head. Golding inveighs against those who think that it is the political
or other systems that create evil. Evil springs from the depths of man himself - it is
the wickedness in human beings that creates the evil systems, or, that changes what,
from the beginning, is, or could be, good into something iniquitous and destructive.
Press Release for the Nobel Prize in Literature, October 1983
Goldings Inspiration: The Coral Island by R.M. Ballantyne
Golding cites The Coral Island as his inspiration for Lord of the Flies, but rather than
encountering outside evils, in the form of natives and pirates, as the boys do in The
Coral Island, the evil in Goldings Lord of the Flies comes from within the boys
themselves.
Robert Michael Ballantyne, a Scottish author, wrote The Coral Island in 1858.
It was a popular boy's adventure story in children's literature of the Victorian period.

It is part of the Robinsonade genre, a literary genre that can be described simply as a
desert island story. It usually includes the themes of isolation and a new beginning,
encounters with natives, and commentary on society.
Other adventure stories Golding may have been familiar with: The Swiss Family
Robinson (1812) by Johann David Wyss and Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the
Pacific (1841) by Frederick Marryat.

Reception:
It was not a great success when it was first published and sold fewer than 3,000 copies in
the United States during 1955 before going out of print, however, it soon went on to
become a best-seller.
Edmund Epstein, an editor, read one of the original American copies and loved the story.
In 1957, Epstein became the editor of Capricorn Books, aimed at the college market.
Epstein said, Id like to see whether Lord of the Flies would catch on in courses in
modern literature. The paperback of Lord of the Flies was published in August 1959, and
by the time Golding visited the United States in 1961, it was hugely popular on campuses
throughout the country. The 1959 paperback sold 4,300 copies by the end of the year,
15,000 in 1960, 75,000 in 1961 and by some estimates half a million by the end of 1962.
By 1980, sales in the United States alone had reached seven million.
Despite its recognition as a great novel, it is one of the most commonly challenged books
in the US, meaning that people have attempted to ban the reading of it in their
communities. Although its frequently challenged, it has never been officially banned.
Stats on Lord of the Flies
2003: The novel was listed at number 70 on The Big Read (a survey on books carried out
by the BBC in the United Kingdom, where over 750,000 votes were received from the
British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time).
2005: It was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels
from 1923 to 2005.
It was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best English Novels of the
20th century (#41 on the editor's list, #25 on the reader's list).

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II. Our Adaptation: Lord of the Flies by Nigel Williams
Premiered: December, 1991: First production of this adaptation was performed by Kings
College Junior School, Wimbledon
Kings College Junior School is an independent day school for boys age 7-13.
Nigel Williamss son was in the cast.
Nigel Williams (1948- )
Novelist, screenwriter and playwright
Lord of the Flies was his 20th of 24 plays (so far)
Faber and Faber, Ltd., who published Lord of the Flies, has also published many of
Williamss novels.
He had previous experience adapting novels for television and film.
This dramatization was the only one approved by William Golding himself. No other
dramatization of Lord of the Flies will be authorized by the author's heirs or publishers.
Nigel Williams on his adaptation:
I had not thought any of the film versions really did justice to the complexity of the
novel. And, when the chairman of Faber and Faber rang me one morning to suggest I
adapt it for the stage, he said that was just what Bill thought too. He would like a version
that takes intelligent liberties. He would like a version. Go down to Cornwall and see
him! he saidI have spent quite a lot of my life interviewing writers about their work
but I dont think I have ever had as an illuminating a conversation about literary
technique as I had with Bill that afternoon. He could see the novel might work as a play
and he was willing to share with me his most intimate technical notions about the books
construction in order to help me get it right Nigel Williams for The Telegraph
One of my main aims in adapting the novel was to try to realize the complexity of
[Goldings] intentionsWhat Goldings book has is a real knowledge of its subject
schoolboys and a real conviction that they can represent more than the things they
seem. They are animated by an important debate about power, democracy and the good or
evil that is within mens hearts, but they are also, all too vividly, real boys of the kind you
might find in any prep school today Williamss Introduction to his Lord of the Flies
adaptation
Other productions of Nigel Williamss adaptation
First professional production: 1995: Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
1998-1999, 2008-2009: Pilot Theatre Company, UK Tour
1998-1999: The Coterie, Kansas City, MO; American Premiere
2011: Regents Park Open Air Theatre, London
2012: Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA
2013: Malthouse Theatre, Australia; All female cast playing boys
2013: Cardinal Stage Company, Bloomington, IN
2014: Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver, CO
Current UK Tour: Regents Park Theatre

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Note: Our production is the first production to include both males and females in the roles.
Other adaptations of the novel:
Film:
Lord of the Flies (1963), directed by Peter Brook, nominated for the Golden Palm at the
1963 Cannes Film Festival
Alkitrang dugo (1976), a Filipino film, features male and female cast members
Lord of the Flies (1990), directed by Harry Hook
Radio:
BBC Radio 4 (2014), Four part radio dramatization by Judith Adams
Dance:
Dancer Company: Matthew Bournes New Adventures; adapted and directed by Matthew
Bourne and Scott Ambler (2014)

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III. Philosophy + Lord of the Flies
Nietzsche and the will to power
Nietzsche was a 19th century German philosopher
He believed that the will to power is the main driving force in humans all humans want
to achieve a level of power.
Manifestations of will to power are achievement, ambition, and striving to reach the
highest possible position.
Nietzsche believed that a will to power is operating in all events.
Nietzsche believed that harmful acts, such as physical violence, lying, and domination as
well as non-harmful acts, such as gift-giving, love, and praise, are nothing more than a
manifestation of peoples will to power.
Nietzsche quotes:
Anywhere there is life, people will try to gain power:
There is a will to power where there is a will to life, and even the strongest living things
will risk lives for more power from Self Overcoming Thus Spoke Zarathustra
On how every high culture on earth has begun:
Human beings whose nature was still natural, barbarians in every terrible sense of the
word, men of prey who were still in possession of unbroken strength of will and lust for
power, hurled themselves upon weaker, more civilized, more peaceful races. from Part
9 of Beyond Good and Evil
The strong prey on the weak:
The strong are naturally inclined to separate as the weak are to congregate from Third
Essay, Section 18 of Genealogy of Morals

In the beginning, the noble caste was always the Barbarian caste: their predominance did
not lie mainly in physical strength but in strength of the soul they were more whole
human beings (which also means, at every level, more whole beasts) from Part 9 of
Beyond Good and Evil

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IV. The Psychology of Lord of the Flies
Social Psychology
The scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior
in social situations
Within Groups:
Groupthink:
Occurs when the need for agreement takes priority over the motivation to obtain accurate
information and make appropriate decisions
Desire for harmony results in irrational/dysfunctional decision making
Diversity (in terms of sex, race, ethnicity, and cultural background):
Miscommunications and misunderstandings are more likely to arise among
heterogeneous group members, causing frustration and resentment and damaging group
performance by weakening coordination, morale, and commitment to the group.
Cliques often form in diverse groups causing some group members to feel alienated.
People are attracted to people who are like them physically, in terms of age, race, and
gender, as well as mentally, in terms of their hobbies and interests. An obvious example
of this is seen in cliques in a high school cafeteria athletes with athletes, theatre kids
with theatre kids, etc.
Aggression:
Aggression is defined by someones intent. With aggression, a person is purposefully
trying to hurt someone else. Accidentally violence towards someone else is not caused by
aggression.
Aggression often stems from the blocking of goals. When someone or something
prevents you from achieving a goal, you become frustrated, angry, and therefore,
aggressive.
Aggression has confirmed gender differences:
o In males, aggression manifests itself physically. Mens aggression is more direct
and confrontational.
o In females, aggression manifests itself verbally. Women are less confrontational
and their aggression is more indirect. This is often because social norms regulate
womens behavior women are trained by society not to be physically aggressive.
o Something to think about: When removed from society onto an island, would
women become physically, rather than verbally, aggressive because theyre not
constrained by societys standards?
Cognitive Decision Making in Teenagers vs. Young Adults:
Adolescents and teenagers (the age of the original characters in Lord of the Flies) have
not internalized morality yet. They often do not think about the larger consequences of
their actions.

By the time people are young adults (20 year olds, the age of you, the actors), they are
further along in their moral development and think more about what is right and wrong.
They consider their actions and the possible consequences before they do something.
Something to think about: You, the actor, may think more about the actions your character
performs on stage, but the character you are playing may not stop to consider the
consequences of his or her actions.

Stanford Prison Experiment

Psychology professor Philip Zimbardo and his team wanted to test the hypothesis that the
inherent personality traits of prisoners and guards are the main cause of abusive behavior
in prison.
The results of the experiment showed that the situation, rather than their individual
personalities, caused the participants behavior.
Zimbardo argued that the prisoners had internalized their roles as seen in the fact that if
they wanted to leave the experiment, instead of simply quitting and leaving, the
participants applied for parole in hopes of getting out of the prison.
This experiment shows that people embody the role they are given. Within Lord of the Flies,
different characters are given the roles of leaders or not-leaders. If a character is given a role or
labeled as something, it is likely that they will take on that role or label.

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V. Contemporary Commentary News Headlines
Destruction:
Inside the Frat Party that Caused $75,000 of Damage at a Ski Resort ABC News
o trashing hotel rooms and hallways, including ripping off cabinet doors,
destroying ceilings and rugs, and busting up tablesthe rooms were incredibly
dirty, broken windows, broken furniture, ceiling tiles torn out of hallways, wall
sconces broken off, doors kicked in.

Trusted cat-sitter trashed house with wild part of teens Daily Mail
o Used condoms litter the floors and puddle of vomit, urine and feces were found
in bedsthere was graffiti and even holes in the walls as well as cash and jewelry
missing.

Social Media:
Teens use social media to document party that destroyed a former NFL players home
rawstory.com
o It looks like there was over $20,000 in damage to the home, and were trying to
determine the cost of all the items that were stolen.The teenagers extensively
documented their destruction online

Teen shot his friend in the face while trying to take a picture, took a selfie with his body
and sent it to his friend on Snapchat Daily Mail
o Morton was trying to take a picture of Mangan [the friend] with the cellphone
aimed down the barrel of the gun before pulling the triggerMorton panicked

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and took the selfie to send to a friend via Snapchat as proof after the friend
refused to believe what happened.
o This occurred 40 minutes outside of Pittsburgh

Shooter

Victim

Mothers Day Murder: Disgusting teenagers Snapchat photos of dying stabbing victim
The Daily and Sunday Express
o Disgusting onlookers have been blasted for taking photographs of the dying 18year-old to publish on mobile photo-messaging app, Snapchat...One Twitter user
described the horrifying scene, writing: disgusting, someone was stabbed
outside club in Coventry gasping for breath and all people cared about was snapchatting #society.

Bullying:
Girls, 12 and 14, arrested in death of bullied Florida girl who killed herself Fox News
o Judd said Sedwick was terrorized by as many as 15 girls who ganged up on her
and picked on her for months through online message boards and texts...The girl
who had been dating Sedwick's former boyfriend went to friends around the
school and tried to have them turn on Sedwick[she] posted comments on the
Internet saying Sedwick should drink bleach and die,

Texts show teen [Michelle Carter] pushing her boyfriend [Conrad Roy] to suicide: When
are you going to do it? Gawker
o CONRAD: Like two weeks ago I was willing to try everything and now Im
worse, really bad and I'm LOL not following through. Its eating me inside.
MICHELLE: Youre so hesitant because you keeping over thinking it and keep
pushing it off. You just need to do it, Conrad. The more you push it off, the more
it will eat at you. You're ready and prepared. All you have to do is turn the
generator on and you will be free and happy. No more pushing it off. No more
waiting.
CONRAD: Youre right.
MICHELLE: If you want it as bad as you say you do its time to do it today.
CONRAD: Yup. No more waiting.

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MICHELLE: Okay. Im serious. Like you cant even wait till tonight. You have
to do it when you get back from your walk.