Symbols in Lord of the Files 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.

Throughout Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the flies persist as a symbol of multiple concepts or themes. The flies in Lord of the Flies represent the devil, darkness, and foreshadows dark events that will happen to the characters that stumble upon them. During the book, Jack, in addition to his hunters stumble upon a pig and kill it to sacrifice to the beast. They “jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick” then nickname it the Lord of the Flies because the flies surround the pig (Golding 137). The Lord of the Flies literally translates to Beelzebub, which is one of many representing names for the devil. The devil can be seen as pure darkness, and the flies have a meaning of darkness in the story. When Simon discovers

“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.

      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.

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

The Youngins, are well, young. These boys are all alone, on an island, so if anything they do not understand happens, they have to have an excuse. Thus the Beast comes into play. The boys are scared of the beast at night also, because this is when they cannot see what's going on. Thus blaming the beast for everything. Ralph laughed, and the other boys laughed with him. The small boy twisted further into himself."Tell us about the snake-thing." "Now he says it was a beastie." "Beastie?" "A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it." "Where?' "In the woods.” "He says the beastie came in the dark."(35). The younger boys, are very scared of the so called “Beast” even claiming to see it. But, they are scared just more than just the fact that there is something on the island. It is the fact that they can not explain everything that is happening on the island. So, it is safe to say, that in Lord Of the Flies, the Beast means way more than just a literal monster, and resembles all the problems that are happening, to the

Jack: “So this is a meeting to find out what’s what. I’ll tell you what’s what. You littluns started all this, with the fear talk. Beasts! Where from? not only the littluns, but my hunters sometimes—talk of a thing, a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal. I’ve heard. You thought not, didn’t you? Now listen. You don’t get big animals on small islands. I’ve been all over this island. By myself. If there were a beast I’d have seen it. Be frightened because you’re like that—but there is no beast in the forest

Firstly, the beast represents the irrational fear that exists within humans. People have irrational fears toward multiple things, such as the Loch Ness Monster or the Boogey Man. In Lord of the Flies, the boys developed a fear of the unknown. “The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly … ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in’” (Golding 168). As time passed and the concept of the beast grew and the boys lost more and more of their will and hope. As a result, they turned to

What’s in the forest that could be dangerous? This is the questions that sends a pandemic of mass hysteria throughout the boy’s colony. “ ‘The beastie, the beastie or the snake thing was real, remember?’ The two older boys flinched when they heard the shameful syllable” (Golding 52). They learn about the beastie because a strange child comes out of the forest, and warns of a dangerous creature called “the beastie” that lives in the woods. This

Initially, the “beast” is a manifestation of fear. According to the text, “ the darkness of night and forest with spirits and demons… previously only appeared in their dreams…” ( Document A: The Terrors of the Unknown). To clarify, these young boys, with no adults to comfort them, are afraid of the darkness and projecting their fears

Initially, the “beast” in the Lord of the flies is fear. In the article on Doc A, it states that, “They externalize these fears into the figure of the “beast.” This illustrates that the fears of people, or in this case the boys, began to materialize, and eventually transforms into the beastly figure in the novel. In Doc B, the boy with the mulberry-colored birthmark on his face, claims to have seen a “beastie.” He goes on to to elaborate to the other boys that “ It was a snake-thing ever so big.” This representation of the “beast” probably symbolizes the boy’s fears.

“Maybe,” Simon said hesitantly, “maybe there is a beast… What I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” In the midst of the second world war, a plane evacuating a group of English adolescents, has crashed on an uninhabited island located in the Pacific Ocean. Lord of the Flies tells the harrowing account. As the boys allot more and more time isolated on the island, they admit to recognizing an unidentifiable figure dwelling within the area, this “beast” however, isn’t the typical lion, tiger, or bear; This mysterious entity is portrayed to have various alternating elements throughout the documents in an attempt to establish a definite identity to this phenomenon conceiving the the question, what is the “beast”?

“Maybe ... maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us”(William Golding). In the novel Lord of The Flies, William Golding exhibits the symbolism and representation of the beast. The beast represents the norm of society and how most citizens are conceived to evil. As the novel progresses, the reader's perspective of the beast transforms from a possibly harmful animal into to a representation of human civilization and how humans are ignorant and oblivious when it becomes survival of the fittest. The concept of the beast changes significantly during the novel from first the beast on land, then to the beast in the air and finally to the beast within the kids themselves.

All throughout this novel the boys are called to meetings to discuss the rules, the fire, and many other assorted things. One of these things is a beast that comes in the night but does not leave foot prints or any trail at any time. All the boys are very afraid of this beast and what it may do to them if it gets hold of them. As it turns out the beast is in the boys: "'You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you?'"(172). This is the "lord of the flies," also known as the beast, talking to Simon the first boy murdered. The beast is their unwillingness to maintain a civilization; it is their transformation into savages. All the time at all these meetings the boys respect the conch and whoever held the conch was respected, even if he was not liked. Once this symbol of

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