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Destruction Of Reason Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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Fear, the Destruction of Reason
People often use reason in making decisions, but when scared all reason can be thrown out the window. In William Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of British school boys becomes stranded on an island. The group attempts to create a civilized tribe whose goal is to get rescued from the island. Soon any trace of their civilized manor is diminished by the boys fear of the unknown. The first instance where the boys are blinded by fear is when the boys kill a boy named Simon. Next, the boys kill the last boy who thought logically and doesn’t believe in a beast on the island. Lastly, at the end of the book all the boys finally see past their fear when they are rescued by the Royal Navy. The theme "fear can blind us from reason" is present in Lord of the Flies through the destruction of reason by the boys on the island.
The first instance where the boys on the island are blinded by fear is when the most reasonable boy on the island (named Simon) is horrifically murdered during the night. Simon runs down from the top of the hill on the island to tell the other boys that the "beast" they have all been fearing was just a fallen parachuter caught in a tree. The boys do not hear Simon's call, as they are in the middle of a cult like dance around their fire. When the boys see Simon they …show more content…

First, a boy is gruesomely murdered out of fear that he is a beast. Next, another boy is killed while trying to keep the island civilized so that the boys may soon become rescued. Lastly, the boys are rescued but finally realize that the only thing they should have been fearing was fear itself. This relates to our society today because there are many times where people make irrational decisions out of fear of the unknown. This novel teaches us that even though fear may blind us we need to make rational decisions no matter the

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