The Fear Of The Unknown In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

A recurring theme among leaders in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (John Acton, a 1700’s English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership, power, and corruption is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forces his way into the leadership position without actually earning it. It is clear that Jack has become corrupt as he turns into a person who is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph, on the other hand, is a quality leader under most conditions as he appeals to the boys’ sophisticated side and has a

wrote this after publishing Lord of the Flies. It is our world, in the form of a story. The two leaders in the story are Ralph and Jack. Ralph starts off a comfortable leader of the boys, but by the end of the book, Ralph and his companion Piggy are alone facing Jack and the rest of the boys. As the novel progresses and the society on the island starts to change, so does Ralph. He begins thinking he has all the answers, but comes to realize that without Piggy he would have never gotten this far. By the end of the book, Ralph and Jack are complete opposites. Jack is about savagery and fun while Ralph is holding on to society, rules, and civilization. Appearing to be a weak leader due to defection of his followers, Ralph is actually dedicated and insightful, only loosing his followers because he could not compete with one category that attracts nearly everyone in the world: fun.

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

"We've got to talk about this fear and decide there's nothing in it.  I'm frightened myself, sometimes; only that's nonsense!  Like bogies.  Then, when we've decided, we can start again and be careful about things like the fire" (82).

The fear begins internally with a few younger boys who are simply scared of the unknown and dark throughout the novel, and this simple childish fear was like a seed planted within them that slowly grew. The fear first grew into a beast that scared them at night. Golding first introduces the fear through the boy with the mulberry-colored birthmark who asks Piggy “What you’re going to do about the snake-thing”(35). All the boys soon become fearful of this unknown and unseen beast. This fear starts to take control of the boys, from this Jack arises and claims he would kill the beast if it was real. The fear in the children transforms into a new protected trust in Jack.

It may have taken millions of years for humans to evolve enough to create the sprawling civilizations known today, but it only takes a few months for a group of civil, educated boys to regress back into savagery. In his novel Lord of the Flies, author William Golding depicts a group of young British boys getting stranded on a deserted island sans adults. The boys must look out for themselves, forming a basic governing system and trying to survive. But the challenge soon proves too much to handle, and order deteriorates. William Golding conveys the universal theme of civilization vs. savagery in his novel Lord of the Flies using the literary elements of plot, setting, and characterization.

“The thing is - fear can’t hurt you anymore than a dream.” (Golding, 116). Jack’s completely false point of view of the hazardous emotion is declared within the quote. Jack is one of the antagonists derived from William Golding’s esteemed bestseller, Lord of the Flies. In the renowned novel written by Golding, young boys in a plane have crashed and descended upon an uninhabited island with more than sufficient vegetation. At first, order and tranquility were established by the children and there was more civilization on the island compared to savagery. However, as the novel advanced, the readers could identify the kids were suffering from the persistent terror on the island because of isolation. Gradually disorder possessed most of the boys’ minds and therefore had inaugurated

The image of the beast is introduced by Golding as a physical being, however, it is merely a fictional symbol of the darkness within. The beast is immediately associated with the decay of the makeshift society on the island. In chapter five, Jack shares his thoughts on the state of the island during an assembly: “‘Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well; we were happy. And then-’ He moved the conch gently, looking beyond them at nothing, remembering the beastie, the snake, the fire, the talk of fear. ‘Then people started getting frightened’” (Golding 82). Here, lines are drawn directly between the dilapidation of the island society, and the growing fear within it. This fear of the beast, or

In 1950, the British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell once stated, “To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”. During the same time, the world was gripped by the fear of communism and the possibility of nuclear attacks during the Cold War. Published in 1954, the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, expresses the ramifications of fear in a group of young English boys that have been stranded on an island. Golding explores both the physical and chemical reactions of fear, as well as the connection to communism and how it relates to the dynamic on the island.

“...fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.” Quote William Golding in Lord of Flies. William Golding argues that the fear of the unknown gives a high disadvantage to certain boys who are easily frightened. Golding’s opinion of fear is expressed in Lord of the Flies, relating to the nightmares he had as a child and his fear of abuse from his parents. In our society, the less courageous people have more life struggles and do not have as many experiences. I believe this novel proves that fear holds us back, but in reality, it will not hurt us.

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

Jack, while hunting in the first half of the book, has a feeling as if someone was watching him. Therefore this only being Jack’s fear of the unknown, and fear is what paints a mental image of the beast in all of the character’s minds. The boy with the birthmark, Sam, and Eric have similar mental interactions with fear, or the so called, beast. All three of the characters believe that they have seen the beast themselves with, Sam and Eric believing the creature chased them through the jungle, and the boy with the birthmark seeing the beast disappear and disguise itself in the darkness. All of these accounts have been based of the characters fears such as being afraid of the dark or being alone in a unknown

Further blinded by the illusion that their supposedly superior English heritage precludes savagery, the boys ignore the perverse qualities of their actions. Nevertheless, they become terrified as they increasingly feel the blight of their own evil upon the island. Attempting to attribute the decay of sanity and civilization to external sources, they fail to look inwards. When Simon correctly proposes that the beast is "maybe. . . only [themselves]" (89), the others scornfully dismiss him as "batty" (52) and his suggestion as invalid; they refuse to acknowledge Simon because they are neither capable nor willing to believe the frightening truth that the evil arises from within themselves. As a result, the boys manifest their fear in a dead parachutist whose appearance they grotesquely distort. Ironically, this source of fear comes from the majestic adult world to which they have so long

He talks of a slithering object at night that tries to get him while he is asleep. There are many other accounts of a beast, even a pig’s head and a parachutist who did not make it. The Beast represents the fear that the boys have and everyone. The Beast is altered or changed depending on the boy who speaks of it because they are all scared and afraid of what might be out there or what might come to be. However, after Simon is killed and the parachutist is gone, they believe the beast is gone.

The boys project their irrational fears as a derivative of their immaturity, in an attempt to identify a realized external enemy. Literary critic Lawrence S. Friedman explains, “Too immature to account for the enemy within, the boys project their irrational fears onto the outside world. The first of these projections takes the shape of a snakelike “beastie,” the product of a small boy’s nightmare.” (233) The boys’ irrational fear of the unknown, one of a small boy’s nightmare, only serves to exemplify their immaturity in handling situations like this. It is a stepping stone to events to come, prophesied by Simon. In addition, the character of Simon alludes to the fact that there evil ‘beast’ can really be traced to their internalized innate evilness. Simon argues, “maybe there is a beast… What I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” (Golding 89) While all of the boys attempt to explain the phenomena of the ‘beast,’ Simon is the one who realizes that the boys themselves are the evil ‘beast’ they perceive. There is no external force, the ‘beast’ only serves to be a placeholder for the boys’ true primal nature. However, it is Simon’s death, at the hand of the boys themselves, that only serves to prove that evil truly exists in all of these boys. Friedman suggests, “The ritual murder of Simon is as ironic as it is inevitable. Ironically, he is killed as the beast before he can explain that the beast does not exist. His horrid death refutes is aborted revelation: the beast exists, all right, not where we thought to find it, but within ourselves.” (236) His death is truly the tipping point, a point of no return for the boys. After his killing, Simon’s philosophy of inner evil is realized. It is clear that his own philosophy is what ultimately leads to Simon’s death, as unfortunate as it may be. It is reflected of the group’s fear of the unknown, and their