“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” With a group of children facing independent survival, William Golding challenges many readers to decipher what the “Beast” is in his novel, Lord of the Flies. As a matter of fact, he expresses that the beast is fear. According to Document A, entitled, “The terrors of the unknown,” it states,”...there are no comforting mothers to dispel the terrors of the unknown. They externalize these fears into the figure of a beast.” This illustrates that because there are no mothers to give the children love and comfort, they visualize their fears as a beast. In addition, in Document B,”Now he says it was a beastie”, the author claims,”...he was muttering and was about to cry...he was facing something
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One example is from Document C,”The off-stage protagonist”, where Golding exclaims,”War is not the mere occasion of the novel, but rather the off-stage protagonist in this drama of evil.” In other words, this means that war is triumphantly the main character, showing up on occasion throughout the novel. Additionally, in Document D, titled,”A sign...From the world of grown-ups,” it describes,”...a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute, a figure that hung with dangling limbs...the beast!” Due to this evidence, it can be assumed that war can be guessed as the beast. The parachutist was obviously dead, killed in war, and the children were afraid. This traumatic off-stage protagonist can be considered as the beast. To top it off, the “Beast” could symbolize the savagery of human behavior. To prove it, in Document E, the author states,”...Tell the others the beast is human.” In Document E, it can be argued that the beast is human, partially because it is physically said in this passage. On top of that, the author states in Document F,”...Maybe there is a beast...what I mean is...Maybe it’s only us.” Again, it is physically said in this document, yet the mankind illness of humans can be argued as a terrible, pressuring monster that haunts us. Ultimately, this “riddle” is interpreted through many different standpoints, from a diverse group of options narrowed down, (but not limited to), fear, war, and the savagery of human behavior. The beast in Lord of the Flies may never be truly
One example is from Document C,”The off-stage protagonist”, where Golding exclaims,”War is not the mere occasion of the novel, but rather the off-stage protagonist in this drama of evil.” In other words, this means that war is triumphantly the main character, showing up on occasion throughout the novel. Additionally, in Document D, titled,”A sign...From the world of grown-ups,” it describes,”...a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute, a figure that hung with dangling limbs...the beast!” Due to this evidence, it can be assumed that war can be guessed as the beast. The parachutist was obviously dead, killed in war, and the children were afraid. This traumatic off-stage protagonist can be considered as the beast. To top it off, the “Beast” could symbolize the savagery of human behavior. To prove it, in Document E, the author states,”...Tell the others the beast is human.” In Document E, it can be argued that the beast is human, partially because it is physically said in this passage. On top of that, the author states in Document F,”...Maybe there is a beast...what I mean is...Maybe it’s only us.” Again, it is physically said in this document, yet the mankind illness of humans can be argued as a terrible, pressuring monster that haunts us. Ultimately, this “riddle” is interpreted through many different standpoints, from a diverse group of options narrowed down, (but not limited to), fear, war, and the savagery of human behavior. The beast in Lord of the Flies may never be truly