Fear of the Unknown Lord of the Flies Essay free essay sample

Fear of the Unknown Lord of the Flies By: Sam Baldwin 2012-05-22 Ms. Reis ENG30S Fear is one of the most powerful emotions that control the way any human being acts in certain circumstances. A distressing emotion aroused by impending evil and pain, whether the threat is real or imagined is described as fear. One of many prominent themes in William Goldings novel, the Lord of the Flies, is Fear of the unknown. From the beginning of the novel, the boys fear what they cannot see, the parts of the island they haven’t explored, the mysterious beast, and of course, though they may not realize it at first, they fear the damage they may do to one another. All of these have some â€Å"unknown† element to them; they can’t see in the dark, they don’t know what’s on the island, they’re unsure of what the beast really is, and they’re ignorant of the depths of their own violent capabilities. We will write a custom essay sample on Fear of the Unknown Lord of the Flies Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In this novel, the boys become more savage because they fear the unknown; which is the root of the trouble that is caused on the island. The Beast isnt any physical character, Golding uses the beast as a symbol of the evil that exists in all the boys. Before the boys arrived, the island was pure and clean. However, the boys brought evil to it, and with this evil there was destruction. The boys own irrational fears and blind terrors, release the forces of death and the devil on the island. This fearsome beast initially takes form in their imaginations as a snake-type animal that disguises itself as jungle vines; later, they consider the possibility of a creature that rises from the sea or the more vague entity of a ghost. When they spot the dead paratrooper who has landed on the mountain, the boys feel sure that they have proof of a beasts existence. In fact a beast does roam the island, but not in the form the boys imagine. By the second chapter, fear has worked its way into their society. Johnny says that there is a beast, hearing that â€Å"Ralph laughed, and the other boys laughed with him. The small boy twisted further into himself. † (Page 35). No one really believes him, but the littluns. They think the beastie comes in the dark to get them. The littluns fear of the unknown creature that is much greater when they can’t see it. Ralph, Jack, and Piggy try to tell the littluns â€Å"There isn’t a beastie! † (Page 36) multiple times, but the littluns dont believe him. From this moment on, the smallest of the boys begin to have bad dreams and are scared to go near the jungle. In this sense, the jungle represents the darkness, because it is an unknown place, with little light, where there is the possibility of infinite horrors, including death. The jungle, is surrounded by the fear. If the boys were to walk on the beach, they might somehow forget about the beastie, but the moment they come to the jungle entrance, the fear attacks them. It nibbles at their mind, and increases their imagination of what is beyond the darkness. Several examples are in the book, for instance, none of the little boys want to go near the jungle to gather dry wood, so they settle for wet, rotting wood instead. Their fear of the unknown is evident in the quote, â€Å"Daddy said they havent found all the animals in the sea yet† (Page 88). This quote is not only evidence of fear but is also symbolic, â€Å"animals† referring to the beast and â€Å"the sea† referring to the unknown. In fear of the unknown, the boys fuel their own savagery and as a result, the â€Å"beast† within them grows. As the beast grows, so does the boys’ fear of it, a cycle of fear and savagery is now apparent. Jack provides more insight into the beasts identity when he asserts that The beast is a hunter, unwittingly implicating himself as part of the problem, a source of the boys fears. His lust for power and authority causes him to commit and encourage savage acts against his own kind — an accurate measure of his depravity. Sitting in front of his tribe, Power . . . chattered in his ear like an ape. The figurative devil on his shoulder is his own animalism, looking to master other creatures. Through this, it is clear why the boys were unable to destroy the beast, an endless cycle of fear and savagery preventing them from seeing the truth, the beast being the boys themselves. Through all the fear and savagery, one boy saw through it all, and began to speculate as to what the beast really was, this boy being Simon. As the idea of a beast arises, the tribe becomes chaotic. Simon however, a persona of neither savagery nor civilisation, questions the existence of a beast. â€Å"Maybe there is a beast aybe it’s only us† as quoted by Simon, shows that he believes that there is a beast, but not the same beast everyone else has in mind. Instead, Simon, unaffected by the fear, believes that the beast is within each boy. Later on in the book, Simon’s speculations are proven true, as in a vision, he sees the Lord of the Flies who confirms that You knew, didnt you? Im part of you? Close, close, close! Im the reason why its no go? Why things are what they are? (Page 143). Simon also discovers the supposed beast is just a human being. Certain of this, Simon runs towards the tribe in order to tell them the truth. Fearful however, the boys see him as the beast and kill him and their only way of destroying the beast. From this, it is evident that the boys could not destroy the â€Å"beast† as they had killed the only boy who knew the truth. â€Å"Which is better- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like ralph is? Which is better – to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill? Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking thins up? †(Page 180) Piggy tried to reason for the last time with Jack and the group of savages before they killed him. Simon and Piggy are now dead- murdered by the group of savages. There is no reasoning or logic left, only hope in Ralph as the savages prepare to hunt him down. As night time fell, Ralph made his way back to Castle Rock to find Samneric only to be warned by them that â€Å"Roger sharpened a stick at both ends† (Page 190). Not knowing the meaning and what’s going to come tomorrow Ralph fears the â€Å"unknown† of what lies ahead. â€Å"They were all running, all crying out madly† (Golding, Page 199) as the savages chased Ralph. ‘He forgot his wounds, his hunger and thirst, and became fear: hopeless fear on flying feet, rushing through the forest toward the open beach. (Golding, Page 200) Ralph stood on the beach face to face with a naval officer â€Å"behind him the whole island was shuddering with flame† (Golding, Page 201). The fear acts as a barrier, which unavoidably brings forth their downfall, with the two most intelligent characters on the Island, being Piggy, a representation of science and intellec t in the society , and Simon, the spiritual and understanding sector, both dying as a result, of fear in the beast/ unknown. This fear breaks down any form of society, and hence, brings disaster to a paradoxical Coral Island.