How Does Golding Use Fear In Lord Of The Flies

William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, is a novel illustrating a group of school boys whose plane was shot down in the midst of war, struggle with surviving on an uninhabited island trying to recreate the society they once left behind. At the story’s center is the conflict between savagery and civilization; and as time goes on fear begins its reign over the children. Golding attains the greater theme of Lord of the Flies, that the fear of either the known or the unknown is the most destructive and manipulating human emotion. He exhibits this theme through revealing Ralphs initial fears of the unknown, explaining the known from Piggy’s view, and displaying the extent of the fears destruction of man. Initially, in the beginning of the book,

Ralph saw it first, and watched till the intentness of his gaze drew all eyes that way Then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand, and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing. The creature was a party of boys… (19)
Ralph became uneasy at the initial stage of being stranded on the island. There was no talk of any beast or animal present at the time, however, he was already formulating an assumption without proof of what he was actually seeing. This begins the destruction of his human emotions from the simple fear of the unknown. Subsequently, Golding revealed the unknown in the beginning of Lord of the Flies and now halfway throughout the book he later explained what the known fears the children may have had on the island through Piggy’s views. In chapter five, “Beast from Water”, the premise of was happening was that a new set of rules and orders were being set in place, but during the meeting someone asked what a beast would eat. In response, Golding through Piggy, in a moment of astounding and unprecedented perception, states that there is no beast by

It came darkly, uncertainty. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe… Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill… The beast was on its knees in the center, arms folded over its face It was crying out against the abominable noise, something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring, and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There was no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. (152-153)
After Simon saw what the supposed beast was, he thought it was necessary to tell the others that there was no need to fear of a “beast”. While heading to the other boys he fell into the horseshoe grouping and was mistaken as the beast. Right there without hesitation he was beaten and killed out of fear. Overwhelmed by the pulsing chant and excitement of slaughtering the pig, the boys lost sight of their surrounding and murdered their own. This moment described the extent of how fear is the most destructive human emotion and is only the start of its