In the novel Lord of
the Flies by William Golding many young boys are stranded on an island in the
middle of the ocean. The novel introduces us to a “beast” of some sort. The
boys imagine this beast to be living on the island but they know little of what
the beast has in store. The novel shows evidence of a beast lurking through the
jungle; this beast is called human.
As the boys begin to
lose control and order, the beast begins to crawl out from the jungle and
snatch up once innocent little boys to use as pawns in a disturbing game of
Risk ™. The beast’s existence is made up of the bad behaviour the children
display in the novel. The more savage the boys act, the more real the beast
becomes.
The boys are so afraid
of the beast because the beast exists within all of them and as they grow more
savage, the beast grows as well. Simon is the first to realize this and tries
to share his ideas but is blown off by laughter. “What I mean is… Maybe it’s
only us.” Simon is still pure of heart and may pose to have some darkness but
not the will to use this darkness or show any signs of a beast trying to get
out.
Another thing the novel
shows is that the island seems to stand for the earth. With Ralph and Jack as
opposing dictators the novel really relates to the government and our cruel society.
The island is just a reincarnation of the messed up world we live in now. With
all of the chemicals going into the air and other harmful things we’re doing to
the earth we might as well be lighting it completely on fire.
The boys get too caught
up with doing what they want that they become savage and beastlike. To explain
their savageness, Jack uses this phony beast as a scapegoat to keep the kids in
fear. Therefore Jack seems like a protector as he hunts the beast undoubtedly
fearless.
The only beast to be found
is the one deep within ourselves; or maybe not so deep after all.
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