The Literary Influences in Lost
Comparisons with Lord of the Flies and Coral Island
Any work of fiction which features a group of people plane-wrecked on an island naturally invites comparisons with William Golding's 1954 masterpiece. The similarities do not mean that the Touchstone Television production Lost is based on the book Lord of the Flies, but the comparison is interesting.
Leaders on the Island
In Lord of the Flies around thirty boys aged about 5 to 11 are plane-wrecked on an island. The natural leaders are Ralph and Jack, two of the oldest. Their styles of of leadership are different. Ralph is elected leader, tries to look after all the boys including the 'littleuns' and is advised by the wise but physically weak Piggy. Jack is already the leader of a choir and, feeling undermined by Ralph's position as leader, sets up a rival civilisation.
The corresponding characters in Lost are Dr Jack, who like Ralph is made (unofficial) leader by the others and tries to care even for the less dynamic characters, and Sawyer, whose natural charisma make him a potential leader. The men clearly see each other as rivals, as the boys do. John Locke also tries to play the role of leader at times but his wise counsel and tendency to be ignored place him in the Piggy role.
Dangers of the Island
Both Lost and Lord of the Flies feature a mysterious threat from the jungle. In Lord of the Flies this is known as the Beast, and placating it becomes a form of rudimentary religion. Simon, the mystic, discovers the secret that the Beast is not real, but he is killed by the other boys in a religious frenzy before he can share his knowledge. In Lost there are a number of mysterious beasts, including a polar bear. There is also the threat of something terrible happening if The Button is not pushed, a ritual which assumes a religious significance for Locke and Mr Eko.
The decent into savagery, however, is the real threat in Lord of the Flies. Golding's novel shows what can happen to the human soul when removed from civilising influences. Roger, the sadist, freed from the constraints of adults, becomes a brutal killer, and Jack is prepared to put up with Roger's sadism because the fear it inspires is useful to him. Lost has no character as wicked as Roger, but Dr Jack's decision to allow Sayyid to use torture demonstrates how his morals can be compromised, and echoes the relationship between Jack and Roger.
Similarities with Coral Island
The characters in Lost, unlike the boys in Lord of the Flies, do not descend to barbarism, but manage to form a fairly stable, functional community with reliable sources of food, water and shelter. In this respect, Lost more closely resembles Coral Island by Scottish author R.M. Ballantyne, published in 1858. Golding's book was a reply to this optimistic portrayal of three friends stranded on an island. The boys in Coral Island, who are in their teens and twenties, are the hero Ralph, his older and wiser friend Jack, and playful Peterkin.
The three boys hunt pigs and eat breadfruit, find clean water and shelter, build small boats and co-operate beautifully to form a pleasant life on the island. The danger to them comes from pirates rather than mysterious beasts, which corresponds to the Others in Lost, a constant background worry. In this respect, and in the belief that people removed from civilisation can behave in a civilised manner, Lost resembles Coral Island, but in its tensions and mysterious, dark presences, the TV series is closer to Golding's more brutal version of the ship/plane wreck story.
