“I think we ought to climb the mountain…What else is there to do?”
Simon from Lord of the Flies
The Holy Mountain
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Ideas realized
Ideas realized
“I think we ought to climb the mountain…What else is there to do?”
Simon from Lord of the Flies
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A pondering on the “Lord of the Flies” the ‘63 movie.
Soon after an airplane crashes and maroons several young boys on a deserted island, they begin to gather and confront their plight.
Jack’s arrival, with rank and file in tow, at Ralph’s burgeoning camp, can be interpreted as the arrival of an established patriarchal order which is soon rejected by the emergent democratic natural order established around a symbol of equanimity, a conch shell. The conch shell itself (in its metaphoric as well literal order) emerged from the chaotic realm of the ocean, which would later be seen as origin of “the beast.”
Jack’s and his followers establish themselves as the new warrior class within the community which is headed by Ralph, through democratic decree. Jack soon realizes that the ability, in will and in means, to take life is a source of power. He embraces a “might is right” philosophic view of order and establishes his own tribe built on patriarchal hierarchy with him as its head.
Jack further learns to manipulate the primal fear his subjects have of “the beast,” and reinforces the perception for a need of might under his leadership in order to defend against “the beast.”
There are two primary sacrifices made to the beast. The first is symbolic and empty, that of the head of a sow. It was never intended by Jack to placate the beast but instead is meant to reinforce the mythology that he sources his power from.
The second sacrifice is transformational, that of Simon. Simon ascends the mountain and there is presented with the revelation of the beast, the beast is an illusion conjured through fear. Descending from the mountain he is murdered before able to reveal his knowledge which would have called into question Jack’s authority and perhaps reestablish equanimity. The tribe instead of being freed of their fears becomes a pack of murderers.
Jack’s empire, as with all empires, is not sufficient and so invades and eventually annihilates its perceived competition, the remnants of Ralph’s order.
Jack’s order is established, through power, as the orthodox wherein the lone hold out, Ralph, is deemed heretical. The order pursues Ralph, who must go deeper and deeper into the unknown wilderness to evade his ever encroaching persecutors. Ralph eventually falls at the feet of one of several rescuers who have just arrived. The arrival of these “saviors”, which can also be seen as the arrival of a higher order, immediately invalidate Jack’s order and presumably saves Ralph’s life.