In the episode 'Midnight', Doctor Who goes on a trip through on the planet with only a couple other passengers (another doctor, his assistant, a wife, husband and son and a lone woman) This episode eerily reflects the themes, characters and plot to William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies.
There are many plot similarities here to Lord of the Flies. One, the van breaking down and being stranded that's pretty obvious. When the driver says he saw something moving outside, that represents the mulberry kid bringing fear to the group with talk of a beast. Once the lady is possessed she kind of represents the beast, the physical aspect of it. The passengers figure they must have to kill the lady to be rid of it, reflecting Jack's thoughts on hunting the 'beast' Also, when they try to kill Doctor Who because they think he's the beast too that's sort of like when Jack is hunting for Ralph. When the hostess sacrifices herself for the good of others, that obviously represents Simon's 'sacrifice' to save the rest of the group.
The theme of Lord of the Flies is human nature. Basically, if humans are placed in a place where society limits have disappeared, they revert to their instincts or human nature...which isn't necessarily a good thing. In the episode 'Midnight', the passengers all seem very nice at the beginning, but once things go wrong the passengers change. For one, when they all agree to throw out the lady Doctor Who asks if they could really kill an innocent woman, which they all agree.
The characters in Lord of the Flies are also reflected in this episode. Doctor Who is obviously Ralph because he becomes the natural leader for the passengers when things go wrong. The other doctor is Jack, because throughout the episode this character is constantly trying to show up Doctor Who or contradicting him. Even as the episode nears it's end, and things are going mad the passengers vote that the other doctor should be leading them (much like how Jack created his own tribe). The other doctor's assistant is Piggy, because she is very smart but often put down by her boss, the other doctor. The son of the husband and wife can be thought of as a Simon figure, because in the beginning of the episode he is rather quiet and near the end of the episode he starts giving reasonably decisions and rationalities, however he too gives in to killing the woman. The hostess can also be a Simon figure because she sacrifices herself for the good of others.
Jessie-
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with the amount of effort involved in this entry. From now on though, I'm going to ask you to stick to assignment parameters, meaning if I ask for 2 paragraphs, you need to find a way to say what needs to be said in just those two paragraphs.
A couple sidenotes: 1. make sure you italicize or underline the title of a novel; 2.you need to say away from the word "obvious" - if it was so obvious, why would I ask you to write about it? "Obvious" talks down to the reader - try using "striking" or "uncanny" instead, which express a direct connection without questioning the reader's intelligence.
Overall, this is a very thoughtful entry. Good job!