All children have a fear of something; spiders, snakes, even unknown monsters. In William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, a group of English boys are stranded on a deserted island with no adults. Being such young boys, they start to become afraid of a beast. But the big question is, what is the beast in Lord of The Flies? Is it the War that is happening when the boys plane crashed?
A beast can take on many forms in the eyes of different people, from the darkness under a child’s bed, to the inner demons within each person Author William Golding uses this concept to display different themes in his novel, Lord of the Flies. The character of the “beast” evolves throughout the story to represent intriguing and abstract subjects as the plot progresses. In The Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, the “beast” is initially the boys’ fear, then a representation of war, and ultimately the savagery of human nature. Initially, the “beast” was introduced as a figment of the boys’ imagination, brought about by fear. It was at the first assembly, in which a littlun asked about, “the snake-thing” (Doc B).
“We saw-” “-the beast-”. In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there were a group of English Schoolboys. They roamed around on a deserted island, a war was going on in the near future. There are many possible things a “beast” can be. The definition of a “beast” evolves throughout the story.
Throughout the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding makes many references to the Bible and the role of good and evil. During the children’s first meeting, a small boy questions Ralph on what he will “do about the snake-thing” (Golding 35). The boy then goes on to explain that the snake-thing, i.e. the beastie, wanted to eat him. Golding makes an allusion to the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, where Satan disguises himself as a serpent and tricks Adam and Eve. The beastie is also portrayed as a snake and represents evil like Satan.
“He says the beastie came in the dark… stumbling among all those creepers…” In the story of the Lord of the Flies, a small group of boys are stranded on an island, and are being hunted by a strange “beast.” What, however, does this beast symbolize? As time progresses, numerous interpretations of the beast have arised.
The “beast” cannot be confined in any one symbol alone, as it could represent a plethora of ideas. In Lord of the Flies, the “beast” first manifests itself through fear, when the marooned children “externalize these fears into the image of a ‘beast,’” (Doc. A). It then represents war, as when the children refer to the dead parachutist, a direct result of war, as the “beast”. Finally, it symbolizes the savagery of human nature, when the children “screamed, struck, bit, tore” (Doc. F) Simon to pieces.
The boys' failure to recognize this evil within themselves brings them quickly into a state of savagery and violence. They also continue to believe in this "snake-thing" as the "Beast" and also "Lord of the Flies" and " are referred to Satan. Their perception of it becomes more and more unclear, as they end up developing alternative ideas about the Beast. In the book of Genesis Satan also has been read as the evil within human nature, people usually think Satan is an external force. Without actual Satan in the novel, Golding stresses the ways that this Eden a perfect place is already full of evil.
When the “beast” is first introduced, it is nothing more than the children's fear manifested. In chapter 2 of “The Lord of the Flies” (Doc. A) a boy “About six years old, and (with) one side of his face blotted out by a mulberry-colored birthmark” imagines a “beast” in the form of a snake-like figure. Their elected leader, Ralph, desperately tries to dissuade this
The beastie in the book The Lord Of The Flies is the catalyzed for the boys which causes their inner beast to take over. The boys are surrounded by fear on the unknown island and thoughts of a snake-like beastie are how they manifest those fears. The thought of a beastie adds to their terrors and the lawless situation of the island until it is all too much and the order they made crashes down. Slowly but surely the boys start to turn into monsters under the pressure of the island and all the tumult and distress it holds. The beastie shows and represents this downward spiral of the boys going from civil to savage.
Savagery, uncivilized, and hypocritical children have clouded their judgment when trying to figure out if there is a real beastie. A monstrous figure frightens the juvenile boys that landed on this forsaken island. In the Lord of the Flies, these English boys are all alone to defend for themselves, thats when it all unravels. This mythical monster sooner called the “beast” is symbolized a fear of a mistaken beast, as the darkness of war, and the evilness of humanity waiting to be unleashed.
Stuck on an island with kids and an unknown “beast” what is it? The story of Lord of the Flies occurs during World War 2 on a deserted island after a plane filled with children crashed and where a new beast takes over . What is the beast? The beast in Lord of the Flies is constantly changing from fear to war then to savagery. So what is the meaning of the beast in the Lord of the Flies?
Usually, when the term “beast” is mentioned, negative connotations are developed. In Lord of the Flies, the meaning of the entire story is determined by the symbolic definition of the “beast”. Lord of the Flies surrounds a group of boys stranded on an island. The presumed idea of a beast materialized and spread amongst the group.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, there are many symbolic concepts within the novel such as the beast, and the pigs head. Golding uses these concepts to portray to the reader his idea that when humans are left without rules or organisation they will break from a civilised manner and become savages allowing evil to over take them. One of the most important symbols used to help the reader understand Golding's idea is the beast. Many of the boys believe their is a beast on the island and become fearful.
Throughout the novel of Lord of the Flies, William Golding provides a profound insight into human nature. Golding builds on a message that all human beings have natural evil inside them. To emphasize, the innate evil is revealed when there’s lack of civilization. The boys are constantly faced with numerous fears and eventually break up into two different groups. Although the boys believe the beast lives in the jungle, Golding makes it clear that it lurks in their hearts.
Lord of the Flies Analysis Lord of the Flies, written 1954 by British Author William Golding, is a tale of a group of young boys who find themselves stranded after their plane crash lands on a deserted island. The boys, who at first, attempt to set up a society, complete with a form of government, soon fall apart when their primitive urges kick in. The novel was both a commentary on man’s violent nature and of how pointless war is. Also, each character in the novel was representative of a larger concept, thus this allegory had many layers.
