The usage of the boys’ fright of the beast helps justify Jack’s oppressive rule of the boys and the savagery he makes. He makes the beast like a type of god in order to spark the groups’ bloodlust and form a cult like perspective regarding the hunt. The boys’ faith in the beast creates a religious undertone in Lord of the Flies, since the boys’ numerous nightmares on the beast ultimately undertakes the formation of a solitary creature that they all fear and believe. Jack’s group harness this faith of the nightmare, by leaving the pig’s head on a stick as a gift and an offering to the beast. The skull symbolizes a type of religious object with phenomenal intellectual power, urging the boys to forsake their need for civilization and structure and fall into their savage and ferocious impulses.
In the novel Lord of the flies, the beast was one of the main conflicts. Fear is that drove the existence of the beast. Fear is what drove the existence of the beast because fear gave the boys a false illusion of the island being dangerous/evil. For instance, when the boy with the mulberry mark said he saw a snake, in reality it was vines hanging from the trees. The boys are in a new environment where everything was tainted by fear.
Fear is a strange thing, it starts out little and innocent, but if it is left uncontrolled it festers. In the book, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, people wonder, “What happened to those innocent, little boys?” and “Who is behind this new-found fear and corruption inside the boys?” It isn’t until the Lord of the Flies is introduced this questioned is answered. The Lord of the Flies (the pig’s head on a stick) is the one behind the corruption in the boys. It isn’t the pig’s head making this corruption pop up suddenly; it is the spirit inside the pig’s head. The Lord of the Flies is Satan.
Imagine that someone is just a child who has survived a plane crash and landed on an isolated island with no adults. He has no experience in taking care of himself and must figure out how to establish order without turning against another. This is the dilemma that the children in The Lord of the Flies by: William Golding have found themselves in, so one can picture the fear that comes with this more than unfavorable situation. In the novel, the theme of fear is shown most distinctly through the symbols of the Lord of the Flies, the beast, and the conch. The first symbol that is a huge representation of fear in the novel is the Lord of the Flies itself.
The children became stranded, frightened, and paranoid. They then begin to put together a picture of this “beast” which plaugues them. In Lord of the Flies, again, what is the “beast”? Ultimately, the meaning of this monster is not definite, but ever-changing. The “beast” can symbolize a variety of ideas.
Their young mindset tempts them to see the worst. They act upon their poor thoughts.The boys argue where the beast comes from and when Simon suggests it comes from the water, the boys laugh and make fun of him. They then continue to argue and eventually Jack splits with his hunter followers to go find out for themselves. Jack felt the need that if he proved whether the beast was out there, that maybe he would be able to gain some of the respect he thinks he deserves. Simon, being one of the wiset boys, said, “Maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us…” (Chapter 5, page 80).
They were evacuating during the time shortly after World War II. Some of the younger boys claimed to see a “beastie” or a “snake-thing” at night. Many people are perplexed when it comes to the query: “What is the beast and what does it symbolize?” There are numerous definitions about what the ‘thing’ haunting the children signify and it evolves throughout the book. In the beginning, the beast represents the children’s fear. “The Terrors of the Unknown” says that the children “began to people the darkness of night and forest with spirits and demons”(Doc A).
During Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies, Golding reveals the central issue concerning human nature. Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that the beast is inside each boy and cannot be killed. The boys go from behaving like civilized young men to brutal savages. “What I mean is…maybe it’s only us.” (Golding, 77).
In the beginning of the story, a littlun explained to the group that he saw the “beast” in “snake – thing” shape, gradually, it turned out that the “beast” does not exist and the “beast” exist within themselves. The boys who stranded on the island joined Jack’s tribe even though they unanimously elected Ralph as the leader. They joined Jack’s tribe because of their fears toward the “beast”. Jack has used their fears as a tool to manipulate them to
You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?” The Lord of the Flies identifies itself as the beast and conveys to Simon that the beast is inside human beings. Frightened by Lord of the Flies’ remark, Simon tries to tell the boys this news. Yet, evil and savagery overtook the boys, as they mistake Simon as the beast, and kill him. Simon’s death is the ultimate result of the effect the beast has on the