Fear In Lord Of The Flies

The Power of Fear

Andrew Chinn

Honors English 2

Mr. Cabcabin

May 8, 2023

"Maybe there is a beast. Maybe it’s only us." This is a quote from Simon in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies. This quote is from when Simon talks about the beast on the island that terrorizes the boys. This quote may at first seem superficial, but when looked into further, the theme of fear’s control over people can be seen. The theme of fear controlling people is a very popular topic and can be found in the TV show "The Twilight Zone" and a short story by Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery." Fear is a powerful component in the control of people and can distort their minds, which can cause them to think irrationally.

In our society, fear

In the novel "Lord of the Flies' ' by William Golding, this topic can be seen through the existence of the beast. The beast is first introduced as a rumor spread around by the younger boys on the island. At first, the older boys scoff at these remarks and tell them that these are their imaginations running wild. Though the older boys at first don’t believe in the beast, this plants a seed of fear that begins to grow throughout the later chapters. Soon more boys tell the others that they’ve seen the beast on the island, and the older boys start believing in the beast. This fear controls the boys because the beast is something they haven’t really seen, which makes them think of the worst possible scenario. The older boys become irrational, lose their original thinking, and start to believe in the existence of the beast because of how far this fear has grown. The only character to still question the beast is Simon, who searches for the truth behind the beast. Simon eventually figures out that the beast is just a dead paratrooper, but it is too late. This fear reaches a high point, and the boys see Simon running down a hill to tell the other boys the truth, but he is killed because of the fear the boys still have. Jack, the main leader of the tribe on the island, tries to rationalize the deaths of his allies by saying that "He came--disguised. He may come again, even though we gave him the head of our kill to

Even Piggy, who is the most intelligent of the bunch, tries to rationalize the murder of Simon and avoids responsibility. Many of the boys lose all their morals when something presents danger to them and continue to believe in the beast until the