How does fear affect how people act? What is fear? First off fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is dangerous. Fear is also a powerful emotion that can affect people in many different ways including some negative ways like making people lose their sense of mind. In Lord of The Flies fear caused the boys to become scared of the unknown and changed the way they thought. Fear is a theme that is found throughout the entire book. In the beginning one of the first signs of fear among the boys is seen when a littlun brings up the idea of a beast on the island. Though the boys laugh it off, fear of the unknown is beginning to settle in as the author states, “Either the wandering breezes or perhaps the decline of the sun allowed a little coolness to lie under the trees. The boys felt it and stirred restlessly.”(36) Even though there is no evidence to support the idea of a beast, simply the fear of a beast or something unknown to them on the island causes them to become scared. Fear of the unknown in the boys continues to build up which causes them to think differently after a period of time on the island. This is seen when the author writes,"They lay there listening, at first with doubt but then with terror to the description the twins breathed at them between bouts of extreme …show more content…
This fear leads to the death of Simon, when he comes down the mountain to tell the other boys that their is no beast he finds them reenacting an hunt. The boys at this point having lost all order and have fear controlling their thoughts mistake him for the beast and beat him to death. Though Simon tells them he is not the beast and the boys can see him up close the fear in their minds has changed the way they think to the point they lose control of themselves and continue to beat him thinking they finally have the