How Does Golding Use Fear In Lord Of The Flies

Fear is an emotion that we often can’t control and it has a certain power that dominates us in many situations. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys are stranded on an island and this fear that they have of their unknown environment establishes many problems. It is the only thing that blinds the boys from acting rationally at times, questioning certain circumstances, and it causes them to act out in many brutal ways. Golding uses fear to convey the ideas and imagery of young, civilised boys who quickly turn into violent, savage individuals and start to lose sight of the fact that they must be rescued from this island because of the fear overcoming them. Ultimately, fear is generated when the unknown comes into place, but …show more content…
As well, their fear of the consequences that would take place almost killed Ralph because by joining the other tribe, they left him alone for Jack’s tribe to murder. They thought that if they did not join Jack’s tribe, their consequence would be just as bad as murder, but in turn if they did join his tribe, then Ralph would be the one facing the consequences. Through this, Golding was trying to communicate how in society we establish these rules that we must follow and if we break these rules, then we often fear of the unknown consequences. Even when the boys were on a remote island away from their society, they still feared of the consequences that were a habit of their past. However, this fear is temporary once they are on the island and as the novel progresses, they start to lose the mentality for the difference between right and wrong. This was Golding’s way of saying that the principles of right or wrong are shaped when we are in society, but diminish once we are left to our own selfish