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The beast in LOTF represents the evils and darknesses in the boys on the island. At first, the beast is merely a product of the boys’ imaginations. The littluns “says he saw the beastie”, but really they are just afraid of things they see at night. Rather than be scared of their imaginations, they give their fear a name (the beast). You can't defeat a “nothing”, but you can destroy a “something”. And then an actual “something” does show up: the dead parachuting man, who seems to come in response to Ralph's request for a “sign” from the adult world. It's ironic that the best the adults can come up with in response to Ralph is a man dead of their own violence: maybe the beast isn't just confined to the island, but it is in every one of us.
The beast in LOTF represents the evils and darknesses in the boys on the island. At first, the beast is merely a product of the boys’ imaginations. The littluns “says he saw the beastie”, but really they are just afraid of things they see at night. Rather than be scared of their imaginations, they give their fear a name (the beast). You can't defeat a “nothing”, but you can destroy a “something”. And then an actual “something” does show up: the dead parachuting man, who seems to come in response to Ralph's request for a “sign” from the adult world. It's ironic that the best the adults can come up with in response to Ralph is a man dead of their own violence: maybe the beast isn't just confined to the island, but it is in every one of us.