Fear in William Golding´s Lord of the Flies

889 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role fear plays in lord of the flies essay

Fear resides within all of our souls and our minds in different forms wether it be mind, body, or spirit. Fear can be brought upon by actions, words or ever our mere imagination. Of course as one being younger your imagination can bring along fear that is non existent but, to one it may seem so vivid and tangible. In this Novel by William Golding we come to grasps with many different forms of fear being from the beast, the loss of humanity, and the fear of realization. Our first aspect of Fear in the novel comes into play with the Beast. This fictional character becomes the center of the boys problems on the island and brings a long chaos and death. Simon is murdered due to the befuddlement of Simon being mistaken as the beast when in fact he was the jesus like figure and his death was a representation of sacrifice. The beast was not something tangible it was simply the boys because the beast was themselves. Our biggest demons in life rest within oneself, and on the island the beast was just a justification for the boys to blame their wrong doings on. William Golding refers to this using the role of simon by stating: “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are" (158)? This quote expands your comprehension of the beast not being an actual person nor animal but instead as the representation I explained of the beast being the boys themselves. Golding clearly Portrays that through Simon in this quote. Another form of fear that is later introduced is the concept of the boys humanity slowly becoming strayed. In the novel there is a great amount of foreshadowing towards this topic. An example coul... ... middle of paper ... ...tinues to open the wound and not let it heal. In conclusion, by reading the Novel by William Golding titled The Lord of The Flies we encountered many different forms of fear being from the beast, the loss of humanity, and the fear of realization. These forms of fear relate only to this novel but, many feelings these boys on the island felt we feel time and time again in our everyday society. Everyone on this earth comes to grasp with a time of fear in their lives and it is up to oneself if they are too choose to be strong and persevere or to be a cowards and let fear over power them. Ralph was a boy, a scared and broken young little boy but, as he stood on that beach and watched the rover appear he broke down and let the fear of never having peace take control of him. So I will leave you with one last thought, will you let fear overpower you? or will you persevere?

Show More
Related

  • European Imperialism Dbq Essay

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the 19th century, European Imperialism had a major effect on Africa. As countries expanded in terms of wealth, resources, and innovation, more territory and workers were needed. The first solution to solve these problems was to begin colonizing in Africa. The driving force for imperialism in Europe and Africa was mainly economical. This economical approach was established through many ways including cultural and nationalistic ideas.

    Read More

  • The Irrepressible Nature of Fear as Seen in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    The idea of fear is a fairly simple concept, yet it carries the power to consume and control lives. Fears have stemmed from an inadvertent psychological response to situations deemed threating to one’s personal safety, but have evolved into a complex web of often illogical misconceptions which are able to cloud a person’s judgment and result in situations often worse than originally intended. Fears can be hard to quell, but it has been shown the best way to overcome fears is often to face them, as author James Baldwin asserted when he wrote, “To defend oneself against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” Baldwin makes strongly qualified statement, and his idea fears must be faced to ensure one is not conquered by them is evident frequently, and is especially visible in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, two characters are placed in situations in which they are directly confronted with their fears, but react much differently, resulting in contrastingly different consequences. Baldwin’s assertion is qualified by the journeys of Hester Prynne and the Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter, who show how facing one’s fears can have a positive outcome while defending oneself from their fears can have detrimental consequences.

    Read More

  • Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the year 1625, Francis Bacon, a famous essayist and poet wrote about the influences of fear on everyday life. He stated, “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other” (Essays Dedication of Death). Clearly, external surroundings affect perceptions of fear as well as human nature in general. Although C.S. Lewis published the novel, Out of the Silent Planet, over three centuries after Bacon wrote his theory on fear, Lewis similarly portrayed external surrounding to manipulate perceptions of fear. From the first chapter of the novel, Lewis revealed fear to be a weakness that leads to ignorance. It was this ignorance that apparently fueled the cycle of corruption and immorality on “The Silent Planet.” Using the character Ransom to reveal the effect of memory and morality on fear, C.S. Lewis demonstrates that fear is a quality of the “bent” race (humans), and only by eliminating fear in our lives can the human race become hnau.

    Read More

  • Fear in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    Human's fears should not be taken lightly. Fear could do anything to one's minds, though without fear, man can be as savage as animals. In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding presented fear of the unknown to be a powerful force in a man's mind. Fear of the unknown is a powerful force, which can turn to either insight or hysteria. The kids feared of not being rescued off of the island, so they made signal fires on top of the mountain. Then, there and gone, Roger's fear of the old rules he abided to. Also, there were the fears of the beast which confused and isolated the kids from the top of the mountain.

    Read More

  • 'The Lord of the Flies' - Savagery

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Simon was trying to tell the boys that the beast did not exist, his death symbolises that mankind can’t face the truth about their inner desires. Part of Golding’s intent was to demonstrate that the evil is not recognised in specific populations or situations. On the island, the beast is manifest in the deadly tribal dances, war paint and manhunt; in the outside world, the same lust for power and control plays out as a nuclear war. Throughout ‘The Lord of the Flies’ Golding has managed to show that evil is present in everyone.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Yellow Wallpaper And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    The paper compares two short stories (Poe’s “the fall of The House of Usher” and Perkins-Gillman’s “the Yellow Wallpaper”), in order to develop arguments about the relationship between characters’ fears and the main theme of each story. In the two short stories, the characters are suffering from various forms of fear under different circumstances. Such fears include fear of fear, fear of death, fear of other people, fear of isolation, fear of punishment, and fear of loss of reputation. Such different forms of fears can assist readers in understanding the motives of the characters.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Fear In Shirley Jackson's The Haunting Of Hill House

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fear brings forth a certain atmosphere which compels us to act upon it. The era in which the book was published allows us to see how common these fears were. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is an excellent portrayal of how fear controls the human mind by using the characters as examples. In the book Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague have all been influenced by fear in the story, whether it be the fear of love, the unknown, family, rejection, expression, or loneliness. These different types of fear plagued their minds causing their actions to reflect upon them. Jackson explores the theme of fear in The Haunting of Hill House by creating a cast of characters that in turn are manipulated by the inner workings of their minds and the

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies: Fear of the Unknown

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    On contrary from all the other boys on the island Simon, a Christ like figure in the novel, did not fear the ‘beastie’ or the unknown. “Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us” Simon explained. (p. 97) The fear of the unknown in the novel contributes to the boys’ terror of the beast, the beast is an imaginary figure which lays in all of the boys’ minds and haunts them. Golding uses the beast as a symbol of the evil that exists in every creature. "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are the way they are?" The sow head announced to Simon to be the “lord of the flies”. The “lord of the flies” is a figure of the devil, and brings out all the evil and fear in people. It wants you to fear it, but if you don’t believe in the “lord of the flies” nothing can happen to you. Therefore Simon didn’t fall into the trap, but the beast killed him, meaning the other boys on the island did. Simon discovered that the beast is in fact just a dead parachute man before he died and ran down to tell the boys about his finding. When Sim...

    Read More

  • Fear In Lord Of The Flies

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of many prominent themes in William Golding's novel, the Lord of the Flies, is Fear. From the very first chapter, until the last, fear plays an important role in this text. It is the only thing, which stops the boys from acting rationally at times, from questioning curious circumstances and it physically hindered so many of the boys, so many times. The active role of fear in Lord of the Flies, was intentionally used by Golding, because he knew what images it would create. Fear is described by Mirriam- Webster's English dictionary, as ‘To be uneasy or apprehensive'. This feeling is mutually experienced by all of the boys on the island in many different ways. Initially the boys have an obvious fear of being alone, which then brings upon the fear of what we know as the beast, or as the littluns refer to is, as the ‘beastie'. While this fear continues for the whole of the novel, we are also exposed to three other incidents of fear. The first of these is the civilised fear of consequences, displayed only when the children are seen as young civilised boys, in the earliest chapters. The final two are of a different nature, with those fears being the loss of power, the fear of rejection and the fear of being in the minority. All of these different fears, then relate back to the character, and as was expertly planned out by William Golding, influences the characters attitudes and behaviours.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Transformation In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe shows how transformation are a critical of fear in a reader. At the beginning

    Read More

  • Fear in Journey's End by RC Sheriff

    2201 Words  | 5 Pages

    Fear in Journey's End The definition of ‘fear’ is a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. ‘Fear’ is reflected by the continual tension throughout the play. All the characters deal with fear in their own different ways. This reflects their personality and gives us an outline of how they really deal with the troubles, which arise during their experiences in a dangerous surrounding, and also, by dealing with the outcomes that they have to face in life. Stanhope deals with pain and fear through expressing his anger and also by his drinking habits.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another of the symbols that was used to present the theme of the novel is the beast. The boys believed that the beast is an external source of evil. Though, in reality, it represents the evil present within them, which is causing life on the island to worsen. Simon begins to realize this even befor...

    Read More

  • Western Imperialism Essay

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    Western imperialism was a positive shift in the 1800s and early 1900s because of the end to internal conflicts, improvement in infrastructure, education and health in Africa, India, and French Indochina. During the British rule of India, or the Raj, there was an end to internal conflicts within the country. Before the British occupations, ethnic and religious groups fought against each other due to bitter rivalry that grew over time. During the Raj however, laws were enforced to reduce violence so the conflicts gradually decreased. Secondly, in French Indochina the infrastructure of the region improved drastically. There was the development of roads, harbors, rail systems that improved communication and transportation of the citizens. This added to the British efforts to modernize India using imperialization methods. Thirdly, in French Indochina education, health, and sanitation was improved. Across the region, schools were built to increase the literacy rates of the population, hospitals were improv...

    Read More

  • Imperialism

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the late nineteenth century, early twentieth century, western nations wanted to expand their territory. After the industrial revolution provided western Nations wealth and technology that could be used to take over less advanced societies. European powers proceeded on building empires in Africa. They found Africa to be home of many valuable natural resources they needed to fuel they industries, and supply cheap raw materials for factories. They wanted new markets where they could trade good produce by factories, and a place to invest profits. European Nations also wanted to spread Christianity, and though themselves to be superior. Meanwhile, powerful industrialized European countries wanted to gain powers by building overseas Empires. Through economic and military powers, European was able to colonize, and dominate Africa. European Imperialism had a negative impact on African’s culture; environment and was racist to African while trying to make them adapt to western manners.

    Read More

  • Fear Causes And Behavior In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” (Roosevelt). “Fear is a chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals that cause a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles, among other things, also known as the fight-or-flight response” (Layton). Fear affects the brain and can help people or make them in a worse situation than they were in the first place. Fear most motivates/influences people during times of crisis by clouding judgement and becoming a weapon of power.

    Read More

More about Fear in William Golding´s Lord of the Flies

Open Document