Eventually, their former acquaintances become their enemies and they have to avoid the hunters if they want to survive. In Lord of the Flies, Golding symbolizes fear within the Beast, which causes separation within the group, leading to Simon’s death, and Jack’s eventual call to leadership, showing that the true fear is within the boys themselves. The feeling of fear in Lord of the Flies first appears when the boys are paranoid of the Beast on the island. The Beast begins to take over the tribe in a negative way when the excitement of independence fades. “Their preoccupation with natural phenomena and survival rapidly changes to a preoccupation with the unknown and inexplicable” (Crawford). When the initial infatuation decreases, survival seems impossible and the fear of being stuck on the island forever encroaches on the boys. Later in the book, suspicion of a predator on the island appears when tracks are discovered while exploring the island. …show more content…
This reveals the fear of being hunted by Jack and his tribe, who will not stand Ralph and Piggy’s rebellious actions. Again, Piggy is able to see a deeper insight on Jack that the others were unable to see. “‘If Jack was chief he’d have all hunting and no fire. We’d be here till we died’” (Golding 93). Jack tries to start a new tribe, but he prioritizes hunting over being rescued, showing that he is not fit to be a leader. Piggy can sense Jack’s annoyance with him from the beginning of their stay on the island, which sets a fear of being Jack’s next target. “‘I been in bed so much I done some thinking. I know about people. I know about me. And him. He can’t hurt you: but if you stand out of the way he’d hurt the next thing and that’s me’” (Golding 93). Piggy reveals Jack’s true character and his feeling of fear without Ralph, which is foreshadowing since Jack and his tribe eventually kill Piggy. Later, Jack and his tribe realize the essentials of a fire and plan to steal Piggy’s glasses to ignite it. “He was chief now in truth, and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (Golding 168). Jack and his tribe steal Piggy’s glasses, scaring Piggy and Ralph of their power and intentions. In fact, the main fear in Golding’s novel turns from the Beast to Jack, who becomes his own beast in which the others fear.