preview

Fear In Lord Of The Flies

Decent Essays

Fear in Lord of the Flies Fear plays a large role in the action of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. There are many different types of fear in this novel; fear of being alone, fear of losing power, fear of rejection, fear of death, and fear of the unknown. Golding uses the theme fear of the unknown to display the most harmful emotion. It is easier to manipulate someone when there is an element of the unknown. Throughout this novel, fear becomes unstoppable once the boys realize the only thing to fear, is fear itself. One of the greatest emotions that controls the way people act or think in certain ways is fear. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous. Fear of the unknown is the most harmful …show more content…

In his view, he is more fit to be the leader since he can destroy the one thing causing terror and hysteria. Fear benefits Jack because he can use it to guide the boys into his tribe. While everyone is afraid of the beast, Jack sees this fear as an opening to create his own tribe. Jack sets the stage for his heroic action by making the littluns more scared of the beast. He then proclaims that if there was a beast, “This is a hunter’s job” he and his hunters will kill it (Golding 102). Jack uses the word hunter because it creates the image of a fearless person. Since, Jack is labeling himself as fearless, it makes the boys want to be like him. By, using the boys fear to his benefit he is trying to convince the littluns that he can make their fear of the unknown go …show more content…

Golding purposely makes his characters young for this novel because of how fear impacts younger people more. Since, the boys are so young it is easier for them to get scared because they have not learned how to control it. Like the childish fear of the little kids screaming for their parents because they think something is under their bed, but they do not know what it is. As Samneric see the dead paratroopers body they immediately run down the mountain to get back to the other boys. When the other boys hear Samneric’s story the fear appears. Golding says, “The bright morning was full of threats and the circle began to change” to emphasize how the panic disperses (Golding 100). Golding calls the boys a circle to demonstrate how they are thought of as one. The boys do not get together to solve this problem; instead they use their impulsive judgment and end up killing one of their own. The bright morning distinguishes how the island that was in control grew overwhelmed with

Get Access