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Rinette Korea

Ms. Subherwal

English 2H

1 April 2014

What would happen if we were suddenly placed on an isolated island with nothing

but our clothes? William Golding answers this hypothetical question in his allegorical novel,

the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies is a story in which a group of boys land on a

secluded island via a plane crash. These boys then congregate and attempt to recreate what

they know about the adult world by establishing a type of order and government within their

society. For a brief amount of time, the fragile democratic governing system manages to hold

the group boys in a fairly organized manner. However, the boys’ new unfamiliar surroundings

arouse a contagious feeling of panic and hysteria. The madness leads the boys into

developing the notion of a “beast”. The dynamic symbol of the beast communicates the

novel’s theme that fear is an indestructible part of human nature that provokes and is

provoked by elements of hysteria and uncertainty.

The idea of the beast was first mentioned by a littlun with a mulberry colored

birthmark in the second assembly. Since he himself was too shy to describe the Beast himself,

Piggy explains in his stead: “A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it…” (35). Ralph replied

back, “You couldn’t have a beastie, a snake-thing, on an island this size…you only get them

in big countries like Africa, or India” (36). After Ralph’s commentary, many nodded gravely

in agreement. What Ralph had said was a logical deduction. Biologically, such a large snake

would be too limited of food and habitat in an island as small as the one described in the

book. The mulberry birth-marked kid hallucinated due to his unaccustomed location. The

confusion brought by the island tricked the boy into believing that there was actually a

horrible monster residing near him and the other boys. However, the dispersive effect of

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nervousness was initiated when the littlun with the mulberry birthmark claimed, through

Piggy, that “the beastie came in the dark” (36). When Ralph claims that the mulberry

birthmark child was only dreaming, “the older boys agreed; but here and there among the

little ones was the doubt that required more than rational assurance” (36). Darkness is

epitome of madness and lunacy. In darkness, one cannot see anything and feels insecure and

vulnerable to everything. The littluns, affected by hysteria, reasoned that if the Beast came

from the darkness, where anything can happen, the Beast really existed. Later, perception of

the Beast, which in truth is human fear, rapidly spreads through the boys’ community like a

wildfire.

The Beast, perceived by the boys as a living, breathing, organism, serves to represent

the inherent fear within all human beings. Everyone, with the possible exception of Piggy and

Ralph, and definitely Simon, believe that the Beast is an undeniable existence. Ralph verifies

this truth to Jack after Jack’s hunting session, “You’ve noticed, haven’t you? They’re

frightened. I mean the way things are. They dream. You can hear ‘em. Have you been awake

at night? They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if— ” (52). Simon

completes Ralph’s sentence: “As if it wasn’t a good island… As if the beastie, the beastie or

the snake-thing, was real. Remember? (52). In the beginning, the presence of Beast was only

accepted by the littluns. By this time, many of the older boys were staring to acknowledge the

Beast’s residence in the island. All because of one little child’s fear. Fear is inside one’s mind

and has the ability to provoke itself in another’s mind. Considering this, what people should

fear is not a living beast but the real Beasts inside other humans. Piggy precisely interprets

this in a late assembly: “I know there isn’t no beast—not with claws and all that I mean—but

I know there isn’t know fear either. Unless—… Unless we get frightened of people” (84).

People and the Beasts inside of them are the real things to fear. The fear or Beasts residing in

oneself can also drive one to see and imagine what is not true. An example is provided by the

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actions of the twins Sam and Eric, also known as Samneric. Both Sam and Eric recount what

they saw on top of the mountain to Ralph during the night: “We’ve seen the beast with our

own eyes. No—we weren’t asleep—… It was furry. There was something moving behind its

head—wings. The beast moved too— That was awful. It kind of sat up… There were eyes—

… Teeth—… Claws—… We ran as fast as we could” (100). Samneric did see something, but

not a beast. What they did see was the corpse of a dead parachute from the world war that

was occurring in the adult world. The darkness and fear manipulated Samneric into assuming

that they’ve seen a horrendous animal, similar to the way we sometimes mistook a toy under

the bed for a monster. Fear had transformed something real to a Beast that does not exist in

reality.

The fear, also known as the beast, is an existence provoked by doubt, uncertainty, and

discomposure of the human mind. At first, the boys believe that the “beast is a living

breathing, tangible entity: “Now they talk—not only the littluns, but my hunters sometimes—

talk of a thing, a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal. I’ve heard” (83). The boys do not

know what the beast actually is; yet regard it with great fear and trepidation. Their scare of

the unseen “thing” incited hysteria inside them to create an illusionary, hypothetical image of

a heinous monster that was an imminent threat to the boys’ lives. However in truth, there is

no such creature, as accurately explained by Simon in the assembly to discuss matters of the

Beast, “Maybe, maybe there is a beast… But…What I mean is…Maybe it’s only us…We

could be sort of…” (89). Simon correctly analyzes the true identity of the beast with his

ability to see what others cannot detect. The Beast does exist, not as a physically extant

figure, but as a permanent member of human nature. This Beast, or fear, is present within all

humans, deep inside their consciousness. When humans are placed in a setting that is foreign

and unfamiliar, fear comes out to play its role in the human mind. The young boys, put into a

strange and unintelligible environment, spawned the theory of the Beast, which, as stated

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before, only subsisted inside of their heads. This statement is validated by the leading symbol

of fear in the story, the Lord of the Flies, in the midst of its conversation between him and

Simon: “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you can hunt and kill… You knew, didn’t

you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are

what they are?” (143). The Beast was basically a figment of human imagination. As a result,

the Beast was never a presence that could have been hunted down or slaughtered. The fact

that the Beast cannot be eradicated represents the truth that fear is an inextinguishable part of

human nature. As long as people exist, fear will live along side them forever.

Fear is an imperishable element of mankind. Man is born with a beast inside of them,

capable of creating madness and spreading it to others. Golding conveys the truth that fear,

incited by hysteria and ambiguity, is inseparable from human nature by effectively

manipulating the symbol of the beast. The fear or Beast inside men is responsible for the

delusion and anxiety during and after World War II, the setting of the story. After the war,

many suffered from hallucinations and delirium from the atrocities of the wars.