[HPforGrownups] Re: Robes and other Clothing

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 45789

On 25 Oct 2002 at 10:37, eloiseherisson at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 25/10/2002 02:49:02 GMT Standard Time, bboy_mn at yahoo.com 
> writes:
>
> I see where you're coming from and why you relate these pictures to those in 
> the film.
> BUT.... I have to say that they're not like any school uniform I've ever 
> seen. :-)
> I'm afraid haven't seen the film in question either and it's thirty years 
> since I've read the book, so I have no recollection whether such garb is 
> implied or required by the story. 

Yes, it is - but those are in fact choristers robes, and that is (from memory - my copy 
of Lord of the Flies is missing) made clear in the book (reference to one of the boys 
fainting at 'matins over the precentor' comes to my memory), and I believe in the 
movie, it's implied (by the boys singing in an early appearance). I am reasonably 
sure (I studied this at school twelve years ago, so forgive my lack of certainty) that 
Golding used the choir image as a symbol of 'angelic innocence' to contrast with the 
savages that the boys become, and also that the boy who is head of the choir uses 
his position as a way of exerting authority on others.

The point is, those costumes were chosen  for a very specific reason in both the 
book and the film - and certainly not because they were intended to be normal 
school uniform.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia