Fear is an incredible thing that has the power to twist and manipulate the mind into doing things it would never normally do; as a result, bringing to light humans true nature. The novel, Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, is about a group of kids who are left stranded on an island and must learn to survive by themselves. Fear can bring out the worst or the best in people. In the novel, it is clearly shown how fright can manipulate the mind into showing humans true self.
Additionally, the boys on the island fear a variety of things: the beast, lack of structure, lack of supervision, and responsibilities are among some of the situations. When the school boys arrive at the deserted island different types of horrors begin to arise among the boys struggling to survive. A littlun said, “He says he saw the beastie, the
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In the novel not everyone reacts the same to terror, some overcome it and show signs of greatness. An example in the novel is Ralph; “"I'm chief," said Ralph, "because you chose me. And we were going to keep the fire going. Now you run after food--"” (137). In the novel there is a group of boys; Ralph, Simon and Piggy, that do not believe in the existence of the beast. Nevertheless, they still have fears, but they choose to overcome them for the better of the group and try to lead. Here it is evident that fear can bring different type of leaders, like Jack and Ralph, one acts on violence while the other acts on morals. In addition, the kids begin believing in the beast, they begin to give into fear. This is obvious when the following is said; “"The head is for the beast. It's a gift”” (137). Believing in the beast gives their fear power over them, it is controlling them. The unease they had toward the beast controlled them, Jack stepped up and said he could protect them; therefore, they end up choosing a bad leader on impulse in order to feel
the novel the Lord of the Flies, fear is the root of the trouble that
To begin with, the personalities of the boys Ralph, Jack, and Piggy on the island are each represented by the beast as the boys try to kill the beast. A representation
In addition to fear’s impact on people, overcoming that fear can give someone the strength and courage to do new tasks which were preventing them from finishing them beforehand. When the boys ignore the beast they get stuff done like hunting, and building huts. The book says that, “Forget the beast…,” (Golding, 133). As a result of overcoming fear, they are able to successfully hunt down a pig and eat. This shows them not thinking of the beast and getting something
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 can take control of humans and manipulate them for evil. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, fear is shown to change the boys into savages from their fears on the island. This fear starts with the younger children and their fears of the dark and unknown. The fear changes throughout the novel and manipulates the boys which Jack uses fear to gain power over the innocent boys.
Jack had tried to lead the inhabitants of the island by terror and savagery instead of by order and civilization when he had declared himself chief of his hunter-driven tribe. Both his lust for blood and lust for power had aided him in becoming the savage tyrant and an antagonist of the book. Jack’s widespread fear would not have been substantial enough to build his stature in the hierarchy if the “beast” was not included in the story. The beast has been portrayed to the readers as a dead parachuter from the world war happening beside them. The characters, however, had no clue about the outside world or the parachuter who fell on the island. Therefore, the beast became a part of their fear on the island. The beast was the main antagonist in the middle of the story. It caused the most discord in the already terror-ridden state of the boys. The internal fears of the characters, the feeling of terror towards the other characters, and the nightmarish imagination of the youth, had all shown the dominating abilities of fear taking over the vulnerable sense of
One of the major themes of Lord of the Flies, deals with the struggle between right and wrong and the moral integrity of a society. As soon as the boys realize that they are alone on the island, the battle between right and wrong begins. Ralph emerges as the chief and plans to begin a civilized society. When the boys are left to their own devices, chaos ensues. Some of the boys would rather hunt and kill than build shelter, so Jack’s tribe becomes increasingly popular. Without the existence of rules and refinement, there is little hope for the future of the boys. The beast plays a big role in this theme because it lurks inside everyone. The evils lie within and choices have to be made to survive, whether through smart thinking or
He claimed that the beastie came from the darkness. Later that day, the young boy disappears into the fire. This unfortunate event scarred the minds of the littluns forever. In the chapter, “The Beast From Water,” a sensitive littlun named Percival cries and claims that the “beastie” came from the sea in the form of squids.The boys continue speaking about beasts and ghosts. No one is sure of what the beast truly is and where it comes from. Later in chapter 5, Simon says “...maybe it’s only us that we’re afraid of.” This quote explains that the boys on the island would rather fear a monster than fear the reality that everyone is afraid of each other. Piggy also has the same idea as Simon, when he says “I know there isn't no fear either. Unless we get frightened of people” in chapter 5. Piggy explains that there is nothing to be afraid of, until one of the boys becomes the enemy. Both Simon and Piggy are trying to convince the boys that there really is no beast, but they are afraid of the unknown disposition of their
Ralph, the leader of the boys on the island, has a natural fear. He doesn’t fear the beast as much as his fear of not being rescued and being isolated on the island for the rest of his life. When the boys first arrived on the island Ralph immediately stepped up as leader and set up a few things they had to do. "There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire."(P. ) This quote shows that Ralph’s instinct is to become civilized not act like an animal or hunt. Ralph and his ‘lieutenant’ Piggy are like partners, they make some decisions together and stick up for each other. Piggy is very intelligent and he states that “Life ... is scientific.... I know there isn't no beast ... but I know there isn't no fear, either.... Unless we get frightened of people.”(p. ) Ralph and Piggy do not believe in the beast so much, because they are both focused on other more important things. What they both do fear is losing memory of what their objective is: to be rescued. The fear as each perceived it over came each boy one by one. In some circumstances even Ralph becomes deranged by his inner evil from the beast. "Ralph...was fighting to get near....The desire to squeeze and hurt was
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was right in saying that the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Jack Merridew’s evil ways are evident as he uses fear to control the boys on the island. In the beginning of the book, his presence itself at the election of chief instills the first of the fears within each of the boys. Jack uses his personality as a menace to the boys on the island. Although Jack garners support from the majority of the group, they assist him only through fear of what he is capable of doing to them if they do not do as he commands. As one can see multiple times throughout the book, Jack deems it necessary to hunt down pigs on the island, but why? Jack carries a demon inside of him that allows him to do such acts. If things are not done as he wishes, his fury is unleashed on everyone around him. While the others find hunting as a chance for adventure, Jack practices it as if it were a ritual. This ritual extends beyond the pig caught between the “creepers”; pigs are eventually replaced with human flesh. The boys’ fear keep them in the circle of dancing for they are afraid that one of them will be the next in the center of the dance. This outlook on violence is what drives the fear inside them. Later on, Jack uses the belief of the beast to further enlarge the terror of the schoolboys. The idea of the beast was originally brought up by a “littlun” but Jack uses the little boy’s fear to his advantage. The sacrifices made, the spears, and the face
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Franklin D. Roosevelt conveyed human nature in these words, which painted the picture of fear’s grip on our thoughts and actions. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a stranded group of boys transformed to savages as they attempted to extinguish the source of their uneasiness, only they were too late to learn that fright was not something driven away by “a stick sharpened at both ends” (Golding 267). Trepidation was proven to be all controlling throughout Golding's writing as it prompted the juveniles to kill under night’s shadows while pressuring them to act rashly to keep from being hunted by an imaginary monster.
The first fear to arise in Lord of the Flies is a fear of abandonment, for a group of young English school boys that were in a plane crash while in the process of fleeing the war. The boys may feel like the have no home or place they belong. When they are on an uninhabited island and stuck with no one older then thirteen to lead them. When Piggy and Ralph meet, Piggy shows his sense of abandonment when he says “They’re all dead,’ said piggy an this is an island. Nobody don’t know we’re here.” (Goulding 9) This feeling of being abandoned ignites the fear in the young boys, and paves the path for the fear grow like fire. As if abandonment is not enough piggy shortly after brings up an even scarier topic, “We may stay here till we die.” (10). Being abandoned is a harsh feeling, but an even scarier feeling is dying, dying
We might all have been in a situation where we did something bad just to fit in. Your partner was insulting another group member, and you joined him out of the fear of being the odd one out. You knew that he was doing something bad and instead of stopping it you joined in. You had the fear of being excluded and it made you do something you might not do. Which Golding explains in his book, Lord of the Flies, how the children in the book are afraid from a beast, and it caused them to kill one of their own.
One of the main problems that the boys had on the island was the beast. In their minds the beast was a terrible creature that was out to kill them. Their fear of the beast ruined
The fear of the beast influences the boys because they believe that the beast is real and need a source of protection from the beast. Simon sees the big picture and suggests “What I mean is… maybe it’s just us.” which shows that Simon realizes that the beast is not real, but lives in all of their young and imaginative minds(Golding,96). Jack also creates fear in the boys through his size and leadership tactics. When Jack starts his own tribe, he does multiple things to create fear such as Ralph learning that “He is going to beat Wilfred.”(Golding,176). Jack’s tactics of fear leave the boys vulnerable to manipulation and they are all influenced to become less civil and descend into savagery. Once Ralph sees what Jack is capable of after they witness him torturing a littlun, he becomes aware and afraid. He says “I’m frightened. Of us. I want to go home.” which demonstrates that everyone on the island is under the control of Jack and have lost all sense of civilization and have become animals(Golding,174). As the boys lose their sense of civilization they lose sense of their responsibilities on the island, such as being rescued.