Every survival story about civilization's collapse gets compared to Lord of the Flies. Yellowjackets embraces this comparison while deliberately subverting the original's assumptions.
Similarities and Differences
- Stranded young people
- Gradual descent into violence
- Leadership struggles
- Symbolic rituals
- Hunting as transformation
- Gender: Girls instead of boys changes dynamics entirely
- Structure: The adults died, but there are older teens
- Ritual: More explicitly religious/mystical
- Accountability: We see the aftermath, the carrying of guilt
Yellowjackets asks what Lord of the Flies didn't: What happens when you go home?
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