What Is The Role Of Animals In Lord Of The Flies

Humans fear the unknown and what they can’t understand. They fear what they can’t control and what can control them. They fear what threatens them, so they create an idea, something without a form, an imaginary beast to use as an excuse in order to act upon their fears and take control so they may not be scared anymore. In the novel, Lord of the flies by William Golding, a representation of the real face of Men is presented through the story of a group of boys stranded on an island, with only goal to survive. The beast, a product of the boys’ imagination, represents the fear human beings have of themselves. This can be demonstrated by the ability of human beings to destroy or push over anything or anyone that proves they are beasts. The capacity …show more content…
First and foremost, this was seen through the actions of Jack. Jack, the dictator, Jack the authoritarian used the idea of rules and order to exploit his beastness. At the beginning of the book, just after Ralph has been voted chief, the boys decided to apply rules on the island. It did not take long for Jack to be excited, he immediately says ‘’ We’ll have rules! Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em-’’(Golding 32). Jack used something that was usually used for goodness, to be savage and mean to others. He corrupted an idea created by society to be civilized, to let his inner beast out. Furthermore, Jack used the idea of having rules, and twisted it to the idea of having rules so that if they are broken, there will be punishment, because he wanted a reason to be savage without having to admit it to himself. To continue, when hunting became the thing that defined if you would survive on the island or not, Jack immediately used his thirst and power for hunting to his advantage and tried to rule Ralph off of his position as chief, because he did not hunt. As he was saying ‘’ And you shut up !Who are you, anyways? Sitting there - telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-’’(Golding 98), then later added ‘’ He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief.’’ (Golding 138), Jack was trying to use savagery as a …show more content…
First, Jack used the beast as a reason to hunt/kill. He used the fear of the beast to control the boys. After saying ‘’First- you know now, we’ve seen the beast. We crawled up. We were only a few feet away. The beast sat up and looked at us. I don’t know what it does. We don’t even know what it is- ‘’ (Golding 138), he proceeded to push the boys to follow him, by saying that Ralph could not hunt. He controlled the boys and told them to follow him, or they would not be able to protect themselves from the beast. He placed fear in the boys’ heart to control them and get what he desired. By doing so, Jack manipulated the other boys in order to feel secure and in control. He felt safe knowing that he had control, even if it was not of the beast or the events on the island. It protected him from being alone and going mad with savagery. The beast was his escape from his own fear of himself. Moreover, the boys followed Jack so easily because they wanted to hunt and kill. The reason why the beast became real so easily and quickly is because they wanted an excuse to hunt and kill. When they killed the pigs and did the reenactments ‘’Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! (Golding 168) the boys were pretending they were acting this way for protection. Their irrealistic fear pushed them to believe in something that did