Fear of the Unknown Lord of the Flies Essay

A distressing emotion aroused by impending evil and pain, whether the threat is real or imagined is described as fear. Fear is what William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies encompasses. By taking three major examples from the novel, fear will be considered on different levels: Simon’s having no instance of fear, Ralph’s fear of isolation on the island, and Jack’s fear of being powerless. Fear can make people behave in ways that are foreign to them, whether their fear is real or imagined. In response to fear, people may act defensively by attacking, fear can either stop one from doing something, or it can make one behave in an irrational erratic manner.

During the meeting where the boys are questioning the reality of the beast, Simon says this,”What I mean is...maybe it’s only us”(Golding 89). While everyone else is debating on whether or not the beast is real, Simon is trying to propose that the actual beast is the boys themselves in the form of their savage impulses. Simon is the first character in the novel to see the beast as the evil nature of humans instead of a physical being. The Lord of the Flies confirms Simon’s thought, saying,”Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close!”(Golding 143). This establishes that the only thing to fear on the island is the evil human instinct inside of

Simon is intellectual and begins to hint at a possible truth about the “beast.” For example: “As if it wasn’t a good island.” (Golding 53) Simon observes that it is as if the island was bad, and not the good island from when they first arrived. Something was haunting the island, and it began as soon as they arrived. The author uses Simon to indicate the island is good, however, it is a different story when it comes to what arrived on the island. As the novel continues, the reader begins to find out what it was, that was haunting the boys. For example: “ What I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” (Golding 96) This quotation shows how Simon is the first character in the novel to see the “beast” not as an external force, but as a component of flawed human nature. This shows how Simon's words are central to Golding's point that primitive human evil exists. The author makes Simon have a seizure and create the “Lord of the Flies,” providing insight about the “beast.” For example: “Or else, said the Lord of the Flies, we shall do you. See?” (Golding 159) This quotation provides the reader with the idea that the “beast” links itself to the negligence of the rules that society has placed, and how savagery tries to overtake civilization and purity. It is like saying “The evils inside the other boys and I will get

the novel the Lord of the Flies, fear is the root of the trouble that

      The boys in the book, The Lord of the Flies, are controlled by their fear of the beast.  This fear is not of the beast itself, but of the unknown. It comes from not knowing whether or not a beast exists.

Fear and Symbolism make up a big part of the Lord of the Flies book. They co-exist amazingly in this book. Symbols appear everywhere in the book, from the conch to the beast, they all symbolize a part of our life today.

In the novel, "Lord of the Flies," a group of British boys are left on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Throughout the novel, they have conflicts between civilization and savagery, good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, and reason vs. impulse. What would it be like if the boys were replaced by a group of girls? Would they behave the same way they did in the novel? I believe that the girls would act in the same behavior as the boys in all ways because, everyone is installed with evil inside them which is their natural instinct, also because in life there is always a power struggle in all manners, and the outcome with the girls would be similar-since both sexes would plan on getting rescued.

There are many emotions that do many different things but one of the most destructive of them all is fear. fear is everywhere is the world around us it is a part of everyday lives and it is around every corner waiting. There's only one thing worse than fear itself and that's fear of the unknown. In the novel The Lord Of The Flies fear is brought to a new level of destructiveness when it comes to people's emotions. In the novel fear is a destructive emotion is many ways.

Fear, an emotion induced by a perceived threat by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately a change in behavior. Clair Rosenfield evaluated Lord of the Flies from a psychological standpoint stating “The younger children first, then gradually the older ones… begin to people the darkness of night and forest    with spirits and demons which had previously appeared only in their dreams or fairy tales.” (Document A) Based on Rosenfield’s observations the “Beast” is merely a figment of the boys’ fears centralized into

Finally, I am finished with middle school. Anxiously thinking about the first day of high school, I knew that it would be hectic and wild, but I was ecstatic. Of course, the night before I could not sleep. I lay awake dreaming about how my first day at John Paul II will go. How will it be meeting new people and seeing old friends from last year? Will high school be hard? Will I get lost? I kept thinking about the unknown and worst possible outcomes. My first day of high school was unexpected.

During the younger boy’s explanation of the beast, Ralph “ push[es] both hands through his hair and looked at the little boy in mixed amusement and exasperation.”(page 35) Still retaining their civility, the older boys do not initially believe in the beast for they simply disregard it as a figment of their imagination. Nonetheless, the longer their stay on the island, the more the group accepts the existence of the beast. As they move further away from order whilst gravitating towards chaos, Simon points out “maybe it’s only us...” (page 96), insinuating that perhaps the beast is in fact the evil from within. Amid Simon’s confrontation with the Lord of the Flies, the sow teases him saying “You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you.” (page 158), confirming his previous proposal. Throughout the time of the feast held on the beach, Simon lays on a mat of creepers only to disclose the true identity of the beast; a dead parachutist. Upon his recent discovery, Simon makes his way down to the beast with the intention of revealing the reality. However, the boys have lost all sense of order, consequently mistaking him for the beast. As they hunt him down “ There [are] no words, and movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.” (page 169). Simon’s horrendous death is a result of the others’ complete descent into savagery. The beast, originally presumed as fantasy, is now present in the minds of those on the island, symbolizing evilness as well as a lack of

Throughout the novel Lord Of The Flies, the boys on the island are continuously faced with numerous fears. Subsequently there is nothing on the island which they fear more than the beast. The beast is not a tangible object that can be killed or destroyed by conventional means, but an idea symbolizing the primal savage instincts within all people. Its Golding’s intention to illustrate the innate evil inside man through his view of human nature, the actions of the Jack and his tribe, and the relationship between the beast and the school boys.

In the story “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, he shows how the boys lost all innocence and civilization. The boys went from having innocent child minds to taking lives of other people, acting savage, and losing all civilization due to problems on the island. The boys had forgotten where they came from and became savage in order to survive; it was the need of survival that caused the loss of innocence among the boys.

The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is an allegory that connects the boys’ behavior in the novel to the basic behavior of human nature. In the novel, the boys fear a wild beast that has the potential to kill them off. However, Simon, a quiet boy, finds that the beast is not an animal that everyone should fear, but is a part of each boy himself.

“Isolation is a dream killer” (Barbara Sher). In the novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, kids stranded on an island must figure out how to survive. By hunting pigs and building shelters the kids tried to subsist on the island. Through the process of hunting, the kids became cruel, evolving to the point of being barbaric. Thus, through the barbaric actions of the boys and the outside world, Golding shows that savagery exists in all people.