Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

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In a world without law or order, fear can lead to savagery and bring out the worst of people. Such a world can destroy a person both physically and mentally. Humans would live in chaos and civilization would be lost. We see this portrayed in the William Golding's infamous novel, Lord of the Flies, when the horrendous crash of an airplane penetrates the island's serenity and disrupts the air with the crackling sounds of the blazing fire. William Golding uses the "beast" to return the boys of the island to their primal instincts, contributing to his commentary on human nature.

The beast symbolizes the growing fear that lies dormant, deep in the children’s souls and turns the boys into uncivilized beings. William Golding uses the beast to instill fear in the souls of the boys. While everyone is scared of the beast and questioning what it exactly is, Simon suggests something else. He agrees with everyone that the beast might just exist. But unlike everyone else, Simon comments, "maybe it's only us.” (Golding 89) This comment shows that the beast might just coexist in their bodies. The beast is just made up and not real, and only a product of their increasing fear of the unknown. The fear of the beast activates their primal instincts and makes them lose all grasps of civilization. Without the mindset to survive, the boys struggle to find food and build shelter efficiently. They slowly lose everything they had when they came to the island. The boys are acting like Native Americans in a sense because their actions resemble the Native Americans through the chanting, dancing and face painting to represent power and fierceness. The settlement on the deserted island triggers the fear that lies deep in them. Each person on the island comb...

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...oexists with the boys.

Eventually, the fear of the beast takes over everyone. The boys nearly lose their sanity and metamorphose completely into the beast as Jack did. The process of a boy becoming a savage is a recurring event. The first step is when the boys arrive on the island, breaking the barrier of tranquility that once existed. Then, fear grows through the ideas of the other boys, giving everyone clouded thoughts and vivid imaginations of the "beast". Fear ultimately consumes the boys entirely, turning them into savages and making them rely on their primal instincts to survive in a world without unity or order. The integration of the beast and the boys is only possible given the circumstances that William Golding creates in the novel and is unparalleled in today's society as we see this old perspective of the primitive times of society that once existed.

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