“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, said former US president, Franklin D Roosevelt. This has been proven true countless times throughout history where fear shaped humanity for the worse. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, fear is present since the beginning of the book . The boys battle against the beast is one of the major conflicts that takes place in the narrative. Their fear of the unknown, personified as the beast, causes the boys on the island to descend into madness through delusions and irrational choices. The constant illusions of a beast that does not exist, reckless decisions that harm the boy’s chances of survival, and the death of Simon are all driven by the fear of the beast.
The boys begin fearing …show more content…
Minutes prior to his death, through his hallucination Simon understands the truth about the horrifying beast. As the pig head states, “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?...I’m the reason why it’s no go” (Golding 158), he realizes that the beast is not real, but what they all fear is the dead parachutist that landed on the island. However, fear manipulates everyone’s thoughts, and Simon’s realization about the beast ultimately leads to his death. In his broken state, Simon is unrecognizable and this helps fuel the inhumane acts that are soon to follow. As Simon returns from the forest to inform the boys of the truth, he is mistaken for the creature itself and brutally murdered. When speaking to the Lord of the Flies, it states “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!” (Golding 158). To reduce their fear, the boys decide to give the beast the identity of Simon. Giving the beast a personna means that there is likelihood that the boys can defeat it. However, darkness and savagery inside all human beings, what the beast truly represents, is much harder to triumph over. Thus, to compensate for their fear, they choose to kill an innocent boy on the island. The death of Simon blinds the boys to the truth about the beast which aggravates the matters between the boys. Jack convinces the member of his tribe which includes all the boys with the …show more content…
Their fear causes them to hallucinate and unable to differentiate reality from delusions. Ralph and the other boys make irrational decisions out of fear. The terrifying emotion leads to the boys murdering a friend. Golding shows that in The Lord of the Flies, fear of the unknown is instrumental in creating and developing the boy’s conflict with the nonexistent beast. In the novel, Jack states, “Fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream” (Golding 88), but he could not have been more wrong. Fear hurts the boys more than anything else on the
The boys begin fearing …show more content…
Minutes prior to his death, through his hallucination Simon understands the truth about the horrifying beast. As the pig head states, “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?...I’m the reason why it’s no go” (Golding 158), he realizes that the beast is not real, but what they all fear is the dead parachutist that landed on the island. However, fear manipulates everyone’s thoughts, and Simon’s realization about the beast ultimately leads to his death. In his broken state, Simon is unrecognizable and this helps fuel the inhumane acts that are soon to follow. As Simon returns from the forest to inform the boys of the truth, he is mistaken for the creature itself and brutally murdered. When speaking to the Lord of the Flies, it states “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!” (Golding 158). To reduce their fear, the boys decide to give the beast the identity of Simon. Giving the beast a personna means that there is likelihood that the boys can defeat it. However, darkness and savagery inside all human beings, what the beast truly represents, is much harder to triumph over. Thus, to compensate for their fear, they choose to kill an innocent boy on the island. The death of Simon blinds the boys to the truth about the beast which aggravates the matters between the boys. Jack convinces the member of his tribe which includes all the boys with the …show more content…
Their fear causes them to hallucinate and unable to differentiate reality from delusions. Ralph and the other boys make irrational decisions out of fear. The terrifying emotion leads to the boys murdering a friend. Golding shows that in The Lord of the Flies, fear of the unknown is instrumental in creating and developing the boy’s conflict with the nonexistent beast. In the novel, Jack states, “Fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream” (Golding 88), but he could not have been more wrong. Fear hurts the boys more than anything else on the