What Does The Beast Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Symbols are often used in literature to drive plot, give clues to events in the story, and develop key characters. They have more than one meaning, and in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are three key symbols used: the conch, Piggy’s eyeglasses and the impaled pigs head. These three symbols will be discussed by using specific references to the text as well as examining how they negatively impact the characters in the story.

As everyone sits down for a meeting, the beast’s existence is questioned. “... maybe there is a beast,” (89). Ralph is the first to bring up the idea of the beast and how fear can overcome you. This resembles personification because Golding talks about this idea of the beast as if it is a real, tangible object but really it resembles the savage tendencies deep within ourselves. Furthermore, Golding interprets the savage tendencies seeking through the boys when they believe they need to hunt and kill this beast. “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”(186). Jack and his group of hunters become torturers of anything and everything that threatens their little gang. They have lost all of their innocence and let the beast inside them take over their

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

In William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies” Novel, symbolism is a very important element of the book, Many symbols show how the boys on the island are slowly becoming savage and losing their civility.

" This description is very similar to Sam and Eric's description of the beast on the mountain. Also towards the end of the book the boys are leaving it sacrifices and and treating it as a totemic pole. Another way the beast represents savagery is that Jack starts to become more evil and savage-like when he starts to hunt after the beast. Eventually it gives him an insane lust for killing which leads him to split from the group and make his own group of savages. In a way, the beast is the entire reason why Jack became this power hungry psychopath to begin

When the Beast is first mentioned, it represents fear. According to Claire Rosenfield in her Psychological Analysis of Lord of the Flies, the boys are frightened by the island in the absence of their “comforting mothers” and they “externalize these fears into the figure of a “Beast.” (Doc A) We see this in action when a little boy with a mulberry birthmark claims to have seen it: “He says he saw the beastie, the snake-thing, and

It is understandable for children to fear monsters and boogeymen. In the book, Lord of The Flies, written by William Golding, a group of English schoolboys are isolated on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean during the wake of World War II. Hearing stories and seeing the outcast of the war made the boys form an imaginary “beast”. Defining what this beast represents is tough considering the meaning of it evolves throughout the book.

It’s very common for children to fear monsters, but it didn’t come as a shock when in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of children were stranded on an island in the midst of a war. Consequently, the children’s fear started to develope into the mysterious figure called the “beast”. The beast has multiple symbolic meanings behind it.

“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.

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

Golding introduced the conch as something linked to order. The boys found it and blew it, and the others gathered around. Because Ralph took the action

The conch is a symbol of democratic power at the beginning of the story. First, it is used to gather the boys. Ralph blows the conch to assemble them

Symbolism is a very important factor in many books. The use of symbolism in William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies is the most essential aspect to the function of the story. At first glance you may not think the symbols are very important, but with some in-depth thought you can see how it is necessary to explain the microcosm of an island.

Golding uses symbolism to show that objects have other meaning as well. The “Beast” or “Lord of the Flies”, the conch shell, and Piggy's glasses are all objects in the book that hold a lot of symbolism. In this book, the boys on the island think there is a beast. The beast symbolizes the evil that everyone has inside of them.

Golding’s Lord of the Flies has a major character development of one of the most thought provoking and important characters in the novel. It’s whether you choose to believe this character as an actual character that will help you understand the true meaning of the Beast. In truth, the Beast is the figment of imagination in almost all the boys and through the irrationalities brought through fear of it; they proclaim on all sorts of ideas of what the Beast may be. I for one believe that the Beast is a character as it represents fear and the savagery inside us all and is a major idea in the novel rather than a reoccurring theme. However, I believe that one particular derivation of the Beast means much more than should have been expounded upon. Simon’s Beast