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The Lord Of The Flies: The Beast Within

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The Beast Within People can transition from civilized to savage in a matter of seconds, as is represented in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. The author, William Golding, wrote this novel to express his feelings toward humanity. Golding fought in WWII, and memories of his horrific encounters caused him to write a story about the disappearance of sanity and civility. Golding believed there is evil within all of us and portrays this through his characters in this novel. The beast is manifested psychologically within Ralph’s unknown fears, Jack’s longing to hunt, and Simon as the Beast within us all. Ralph is the leader of the group, but the idea of not knowing if the beast is real or not scares him. Ralph is afraid of the unknown and is persuaded into the possibility of believing in a beast. Although Ralph tries to be brave in front of the other boys, he creates a sense of tension when he says, “‘They talk and scream. The littleuns. Even some of the others. As if -’” (Golding, 52). Ralph’s pause in the middle of his thought demonstrates his uncertainty toward the existence of the beast. …show more content…

Simon’s psychological decline causes him to see the Lord of the Flies, a pig head that is staked into the ground. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon, “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...I’m part of you? Close, close, close!...I’m the reason why things are the way they are?’” (Golding, 143). Simon learns from the Lord of the Flies that the beast is within him and within all of us. This idea is confirmed when Simon tries to inform the other boys and is brutally murdered. Simon was ripped apart because the boys believed he was the beast coming out of the forest. It is fear that is controlling the boys, causing them to act savagely toward one another. Fear is in charge on the island. This fear can eventually lead to the decline of

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To begin with, In Chapter 8 Ralph reveals to Piggy what they saw, which he recognizes as the beast, however Piggy can barely trust it. Jack says the seekers can deal with the beast. However, Ralph rejects them as only boys with furnished with sticks. Later, Jack assembles a meeting letting all the boys know that Ralph has offended the seekers and isn't fit to be the boss.

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I’m the reason why it’s a no go? Why things are what they are?”” (Golding 206) These words confirm Simon’s past speculation about the Beast being inside the boys, the Lord of the Flies identifies itself and acknowledges that it exists within all human beings “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?”.

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Golding, through the use of the sow's head, shows that everyone has evil inside of them. When the Lord of the Flies communicated to Simon in the forest glade, the "beast" was an internal force, that exists in every individual, and is hence incapable of being truly defeated. That the most ethical characters on the island are Simon and Ralph. Both come to recognize their own capacity for evil which reveals the novel's accent on evil's universality among

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The quote “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head.” (Golding 164) expresses that the Lord of the Flies is divulging to Simon that the evil is not something that can be hunted or killed but is within the boys. Simon also learns that the beast of evilness was in the boys all along. The theme Inherent Evil of Man is displayed through Simon learning that evil is within the boys and that this was the beast. This shows how the evil action appears as a beast and the understanding of evilness by

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The Lord of the Flies identifies itself as the beast and acknowledges to Simon that it exists within all human beings: “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?” The creature’s grotesque language and bizarre appropriation of the boys’ slang (“I’m the reason why it’s no go”) makes the creature appear even more hideous and devilish, for he taunts Simon with the same colloquial, familiar language the boys use themselves. Simon,

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Although the other boys laugh off Simon’s suggestion, Simon’s words are central to Golding’s philosophy of anti-transcendentalism, that innate human darkness exists. Simon is the first character in the novel to see “mankind’s essential illness” which in turn, shows the beast not as an external force but as a component of human nature. Simons deep understanding of the beast is further expressed in his hallucination or his “discussion” with the lord of the flies that he has after one of his fainting spells, “There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast...

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However, the beast is not a physical figure, but an evil that thrives within each boy on the island.  The Lord of the Flies  translates to the biblical name Beelzebub, a powerful demon in hell sometimes thought to be the devil himself. Not only does the Beast tell Simon but it also says “I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go?

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The Beast in Every Human Thesis Statement: The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding portrays the theme that regardless of each person’s different background and characteristics, every individual has the ability to commit brutal acts. While this book depicts Ralph and Piggy as the most civilized characters, and Jack and his hunters as young English choir boys, their actions reveal that they all have the capability to act violently. While Jack and his hunters started out as just choirboys, they become obsessed with violence and are driven to kill. At the beginning of the book, Jack hesitates and misses his chance to kill a trapped pig. Later on, as Jack and his newly formed tribe hunt in the forest, they discover a sow.

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The Lord of the Flies talks these lines to Simon in Chapter 8, upon Simon's vision in the meadow. These words affirm Simon's theory in Chapter 5 that maybe the beast is just the young men themselves. This thought of the horrible behavior on the island being inside the young men is a major component to the novel's investigation of inborn human brutality. The Lord of the Flies distinguishes itself as the brute and recognizes to Simon that it exists inside every single individual: "You knew, didn’t you? I'm a part of you?"

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“Unless we get frightened of people” (Golding, 90). This was what Ralph said, in that time, boys tried to figure out the problem, whatever they thought the beast was an animal or people they denied there was a beast on the island. However boys can’t control

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(Golding 143). From the previous quote, it can be understood that the beast is not a true physical form. However, it is the evil entity that is naturally within every boy that is on the island. From the context clues that can be used regarding the interaction between Simon and The Lord Of The Flies, it can be understood that the boys are not able to hunt the beast, because the beast is not a physical thing yet it is something that lies within all the boys, evil. After the vicious kill of Piggy and the confirmation of evil that The Lord Of The Flies gives Simon, the savage boys now turn to a new idea: to finally plan out and execute a kill.

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“‘There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast’” (Golding 143). Despite being one of the few boys who did not believe in the beast, the stress and fear still got to Simon as he began to see decapitated sow’s head as the Lord of the Flies.

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Simon who was lost in the forest encounters “ Lord of the Flies” he runs back with fear towards the tribe finding the group dancing around the fire they had lit. When Simon gets closer to the boys, the boys mistaken him for a beast, and they violently stab him leaving all the fear that was a burden inside them. Jack stands there encouraging the boys on not to care whether it is Simon or a beast. The beast conversations were building up fear in everyone mind. Everyone felt some sense of relief that they have now captured the beast, and they have to get rid of the beast as quickly as possible.

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During Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies, Golding reveals the central issue concerning human nature. Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that the beast is inside each boy and cannot be killed. The boys go from behaving like civilized young men to brutal savages. “What I mean is…maybe it’s only us.”

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