What Does the Beast Symbolize in 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding?

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.

When people think of a beast, a few ideas may come to mind. The monster that lives under your bed, a creature with fangs, or abomination waiting in the dark. But how often does one consider that the scariest beast may be humans themselves? In Sir WIlliam Golding’s novel “The Lord of the Flies,” boys stranded on a remote island are terrorized by a beast, similarly to some children and even adults in the real world. However, the events and actions of Jack and Ralph in Golding’s novel illustrate that the beast is really humans themselves, and their unending selfishness throughout the story.

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us,.” said William Golding, Lord of the Flies. When a symbol is examined, many conclusions can be drawn by relating the symbol to society and real life. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, even though the beast does represent something one can hurt or kill, as a symbol it represents a larger concept or idea because it brings out the beast-like personalities of the boys on the island, illustrates Jack’s dominant personality, and portrays the personalities inside all of us which humans can never defeat.

In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, the author expresses that all humans are evil inside through their savagery, but he uses the beast to illustrate his point. The idea of the beast is conjured by the younger children thinking that they saw a beast-like creature on the island. When Simon finally encounters the beast (the lord of the flies, the sow’s head that Roger, Jack, and the rest of the hunters murder inhumanly), it demonstrates to Simon, what the real beast is and where it lurks. Although the beast is in the children's minds, they have imagined it because of their innocence and fear, but the real beast lives inside of them, it is the corruption of temptation that drives them to savagery. This eventually, leads to the savagery and the murdering of two other boys.

“Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well. We were happy.” (Golding 87). In this statement, Ralph realizes that his life, and those of the others’ on the island, is going to hit rock-bottom. All goes terribly wrong when the beast is introduced by the littlun with the mulberry patch on his face in Chapter 2. The beast is the reason for all the chaos in Lord of the Flies. The beast is an imaginary creature that frightens all the boys, and yet, it stands symbolically for the savagery that exists within all human beings. As the boys develop their fear and grow more and more certain of the presence of a beast, they also become more and more savage. William Golding uses the beast as a way to show the demise of the boys while they are on the island. The beast represents the irrational fear that exists within man, the savage monster within us all, and the ability for man to use intimidation to gain ultimate power.

A beast in man’s eyes can be many different things, this remains true in William Golding’s Lord of the flies. Golding’s novel takes place with a group of schoolboys on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. Without the guidance of grown-ups, the boys imaginations and fears run wild. So in Lord of the flies, what does the “beast” really represent? The representation of the so-called “beast” is ever changing throughout the novel.

William Golding, author of the classic novel, Lord of the Flies, had a number of life experiences that impacted his view of the world and led to the creation of his book. The most prominent experience he has had might of been his time spent in the Royal Navy, which revealed a darkness in himself and his writing. This darkness was portrayed by the beast by aspects of War, Fear, and Savagery.

It is very common for children to fear monsters. Therefore it’s unsurprising when, in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, English schoolboys who are marooned on an island in the midst of a war develop a fear of the mysterious thing they claim is a “Beast”. There is a bundle of possibilities of what the “beast” could symbolize. However, it is surprising to discover that as you read Lord of the Flies, its representation evolves.

Beast? “Kill it! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” WIlliam Golding’s Lord of the FLies is one ofthe most powerful and popular novels of the 20th century, but no one truly knows what the “beast” is, except for Golding himself. The novel begins just after a plane evacuating a group of English schoolboys has been shot down over an unnamed deserted island in the Pacific Ocean.When the boys first land, there is an air of adventure and even celebration at their newfound freedom from grownups, but what the children don’t know is that there is something there with them. As the book goes on, there are many different thought of what this thing is, or some would say what the “beast” is.

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Golding utilizes the idea of a beast as a symbol to articulate the human impulse towards savagery. Golding foreshadows how the beast does not exist when Simon says “Maybe, maybe there is a beast … what I mean is … maybe it’s only us” (89). The quote reveals that the beast does not physically exist. Simon’s words show that the beast is just a personification of the primal instinct toward cruelty inlaid in humanity. Towards the end of the book, the boys seem identical to brutes that drop their spears and “ screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (153). Samneric’s description of the beast at the start of the book

Lord of the Flies is the name given to the inner beast, to which only

In Lord Of The Flies, William Golding uses a fictional being in the young boys minds to introduce the idea of savagery within human beings. For example in chapter 5 Simon states his opinion on the beast that everyone on the island fears, Simon says, “ maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us.” Through this statement Golding displays the idea that evil resonates within them all. Thus showing the reader that the fear that was among the boys all along was soli created by their evil acts and intentions. This fear can be seen, when the idea of a “beast” was first introduced to the novel in chapter 5, Ralph “remembering the beast, the snake…the talk of fear.” brings up the beast but the idea is quickly counter attacked by Jack saying, “...as

American philosopher and author HP Lovecraft once wrote that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” This is illustrated when discussing the beast in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a classic novel, in which a plane carrying British schoolboys crashes onto a deserted island and the boys are forced to create a civilization of their own for any chance at survival. However, many challenges get in the way of any sort of functioning society. The beast, or “beastie” to the boys, an unknown force that serves as a metaphor for the fear that the boys feel throughout the novel, plays an increasingly major role as time goes on. However, many of the main characters have

In this chapter, the boys all confirm that the Beast is present within in the island, thus causing the older boys on the island to come up with different strategies to handle the Beast. First, when the Beast is confirmed to be present, both Ralph and Piggy suggest to keep the fire going, and not bother it. Since the Beast is on the mountaintop, Piggy comes up with the solution to move the fire to the beach. Just as Ralph and Piggy, Jack also believes that him and his group of hunters should let the beast be. However, instead of completely leaving it alone, Jack decides it is best to offer it occasional sacrifices from their food, as a symbol of a peace offering. Alone from either groups of boys, Simon suggests that they march up the mountain,

In English we read the book, “Lord of the Flies.” It was a book who’s author, William Golding, had written to show his view on man’s inherent true self. After going through WWII and seeing horrors that man would do to other man he became convinced man is inherently evil. The beast, a symbolic figure in the book, is the manifestation of the evil in every mans heart. This nonexistent beast tormented and manipulated the boys that were stranded on the island, eventually ruining the fragile civil society they built. William’s main point to bring across was even small boy, who’s ages range from five to twelve, can fall victim to the evil in