An imaginary“Beast”, haunting and terrifying. What does this “Beast” from Lord of the Flies? Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding. The novel takes place on an unnamed island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On that island, a group of school had crashed after having their plane shot down during World War Two when evacuating their school. The ever changing meaning of the intricate monster, a very controversial topic, includes the worst qualities and things that come with being a human throughout the book. As said by Samuel Hynes,”The meaning of the book depends on the meaning of the ‘Beast.’” Fear is first represented by the “Beast”. In lines five and six of “The terrors of the unknown”(Doc A), the author claims,”They (the children) externalize these fears into the figure of a ‘Beast.’” Additionally, in “Now he says it was a beastie”(Doc B) the text says,”He says the beastie came in the dark… He was dreaming… He must of had a nightmare…” Both of these quotes clearly show how the creature represents fear. Left alone on an island without parents, the children on the island had no one to rid them of their fears. The horrid upon horrid dreams eventually lead the children to make an imaginary “Beast”. Without no outlet for their fears, the children made their own. Therefore the …show more content…
One example from the passage representing war is a quote from Golding in lines 15-17 of “The off-stage protagonist”(Doc C): “Where did the Second World War come from? Was it made by something inhuman and alien- or was it made by chaps with eyes and legs and hearts?” To clarify, when Golding said “Something inhuman and alien”, he meant something like a beast. This quote is Golding straightforwardly saying that the “Beast” represents war. Golding fought in World War Two. With that being known, one could conclude that that the war affected his writing and influenced the meaning of the