The Power of Isolation over Minds
The famous, Adam Arkin once said, “I think in case of horror, it’s a chance to confront a lot of your worse fears and those fears usually have to do, ironically, with powerlessness and isolation”. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding suggests that isolation results in the growth of fear of oneself. The growth of this fear from isolation is strongly depicted throughout the text with the creation of the beastie – an animal created through imagination, the pathetic fallacy that is used, and the ongoing conflict between Jack and his inner thoughts. The form, character, and conflict of the novel prove that isolation can cause fear to grow within a person.
To begin with, fear is first shown within the …show more content…
Jack is seen to be most affected by fear in the novel compared to Ralph, Piggy, and Simon. Jack constantly undergoes conflicts with his inner fears. Jack’s fears are first seen arising is when he denies the existence of the beastie. Jack does not say he believes that there is no beastie, but tells them that “if there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill it” (Golding 35). This shows that Jack himself is not sure if he wants to believe in the beastie because he knows that if he tells the boys he has a fear of this creature it will present him as weak. Jack alone, wants to gain power over anything he is capable of, so instead of letting his fear of the beastie control him he uses it to control the other boys. Jack is afraid of the beastie when he is alone, but he knows that if he has followers he can use his mischievous ways to get the other boys to kill it and save himself from the danger. Secondly, Jack is seen having conflicts with himself is when he tries to kill the pig, but is not able to do it. Ralph asks him why he did not kill the pig when he had the chance and Jack replies “I was choosing a place. I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him” (Golding 29). Jack hesitates to kill the pig because he fears what it may turn him into. Jack can feel the wrong in killing the pig and does not do it because he feels bad when the pig is “screaming” (Golding 28). This shows that fear is slowly beginning to creep up on Jack as well. The last time Jack’s inner fears are seen is when he tries to become chief of the island. Critics Fitzgerald and Kayser state that, “After his second parliamentary defeat, Jack responds by creating his own society and waging war on Ralph's. Jack's successful society is dedicated to hunting, war, protection from the beast, but most importantly to placating Jack's ego”. This proves that Jack is afraid to be
The famous, Adam Arkin once said, “I think in case of horror, it’s a chance to confront a lot of your worse fears and those fears usually have to do, ironically, with powerlessness and isolation”. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding suggests that isolation results in the growth of fear of oneself. The growth of this fear from isolation is strongly depicted throughout the text with the creation of the beastie – an animal created through imagination, the pathetic fallacy that is used, and the ongoing conflict between Jack and his inner thoughts. The form, character, and conflict of the novel prove that isolation can cause fear to grow within a person.
To begin with, fear is first shown within the …show more content…
Jack is seen to be most affected by fear in the novel compared to Ralph, Piggy, and Simon. Jack constantly undergoes conflicts with his inner fears. Jack’s fears are first seen arising is when he denies the existence of the beastie. Jack does not say he believes that there is no beastie, but tells them that “if there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill it” (Golding 35). This shows that Jack himself is not sure if he wants to believe in the beastie because he knows that if he tells the boys he has a fear of this creature it will present him as weak. Jack alone, wants to gain power over anything he is capable of, so instead of letting his fear of the beastie control him he uses it to control the other boys. Jack is afraid of the beastie when he is alone, but he knows that if he has followers he can use his mischievous ways to get the other boys to kill it and save himself from the danger. Secondly, Jack is seen having conflicts with himself is when he tries to kill the pig, but is not able to do it. Ralph asks him why he did not kill the pig when he had the chance and Jack replies “I was choosing a place. I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him” (Golding 29). Jack hesitates to kill the pig because he fears what it may turn him into. Jack can feel the wrong in killing the pig and does not do it because he feels bad when the pig is “screaming” (Golding 28). This shows that fear is slowly beginning to creep up on Jack as well. The last time Jack’s inner fears are seen is when he tries to become chief of the island. Critics Fitzgerald and Kayser state that, “After his second parliamentary defeat, Jack responds by creating his own society and waging war on Ralph's. Jack's successful society is dedicated to hunting, war, protection from the beast, but most importantly to placating Jack's ego”. This proves that Jack is afraid to be