The Book & the Movie: Lord of the Flies | William Golding, 1954 / Peter Brook, 1963

William Golding, Lord of the Flies, 1954                                  Lord of the Flies, Peter Brook, 1963

                                                                                                          Polish poster by  Ryszard Kiwerski

“We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?”

William Golding, Lord of the Flies, 1954

“If faces were different when lit from above or below -- what was a face? What was anything?”

“The greatest ideas are the simplest.”

“They walked along, two continents of experience and feeling unable to communicate.”

William Golding, Lord of the Flies, 1954  

“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?” 

“The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.”

"They looked at each other, baffled, in love and hate."

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.” 

William Golding, Lord of the Flies, 1954  

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the 

air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” 

"The reef enclosed more than one side of the island, lying perhaps a mile out and parallel to 

what they now thought of as their beach. The coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant 

had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island in a flowing, chalk line but tired before 

he had finished."

"Lying there in the darkness, he knew he was an outcast."

"Daylight might have answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no."

"He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an

 improvisation and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching one’s feet.”

“The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.” 

William Golding, Lord of the Flies, 1954  

Lord of the Flies (1963)

Director: Peter Brook

Writer: William Golding (novel)

Cinematography: Tom Hollyman

Stars: James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards 

                   Lord of the Flies, William Golding. New York: Coward-McCann, 1955                                                 Lord of the Flies, Peter Brook, 1963

                   First American edition

Thomas Hollyman and director Peter Brook on the set of Lord of the Flies, 1963

Hugh Edwards who plays the character Piggy in the film 'Lord of the Flies' pictured standing
on a flight of steps at Cannes in France in 1963

Eleven-year-old Hugh Edwards, who plays Piggy in the film, landed his role by
writing a letter to the director which read, "Dear Sir, I am fat and wear spectacles."

Peter Brook saw over 3000 boy actors before choosing his cast.