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William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author uses strong literary elements to paint a picture of the theme for the reader. When a huge group of kids is abandoned on an island and they are left to fend for themselves character development and symbols play a huge part in creating many concepts we can pull from this story. While the characterization of Jack’s evil character represents an important theme, the symbol of the beast also does and as the novel progresses we can see Jack morph into our perceived idea of this beast. The writer, William Golding, uses characterization and symbolism to portray the theme, evil nature hides within all of humanity.
First, William Golding develops the idea that evil lives within all people through the characterization …show more content…

In chapter 7 Simon experiences an epileptic fit where he hallucinates that the Lord of the Flies communicates with him through the pig’s head on a stick, telling him “what are you doing here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me?...There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the beast.” (Golding pg. 206) In this quote, Golding alludes that Simon can’t be saved from the beast nor should he be afraid because, in reality, the fear of the beast is only his own mind. Throughout the entire novel, Golding has made it very clear the beast symbolizes the true nature within every person and shows us that the fear the kids on the island experience is caused by the real threat that lies within each of them.
In the same encounter the Lord of the Flies continues to torment Simon “This is ridiculous. You know perfectly well you’ll meet me down there-so don’t try to escape!” (Golding pg. 106) This quote symbolizes yet again that the primal instincts of humankind are still prominent on the island. When the Lord of the Flies states “well you’ll meet me down there” it is trying to disclose to Simon that when he re-joins the group he will still be among the beast and escaping the pig's head will not mean escaping the true

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When Simon first encounters the Lord of the Flies, he realizes that it is a manifestation of the boys' fear and savagery. He thinks to himself, "Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you?" (Chapter 8).

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While Simon saw the Lord of the Flies he heard a message that tortures him that “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill”(143). This demonstrates Simon’s breakthrough that the beast is not real, it cannot be hunted or killed. This further expresses Golding’s belief that the evil or the beast is not a figure which could not be destroyed. While Simon stared at the sow’s head, he heard “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you”(143).

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As the crowd dissipates, they “could see how small a beast it was.” It was in actuality Simon, who ironically died to what he came to tell them of. This savage nature that humanity was capable of was frequently alluded to by the book, and commented on by Golding himself, ultimately showing us the true meaning of the “beast”. Throughout “The Lord of the Flies”, the “beast” is ever present and ever changing. It manifests their fears, the war, then their savagery.

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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 Simon is by himself on the island when he sees a pig head on a stick and it says to him “What are you doing out here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me? . . . There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast.

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The Lord of the Flies then tells Simon that if he goes “down there, " he will only meet the beast (Golding 143). Golding takes Simon's knowledge and observations about the boys and uses them to foreshadow his death. By saying that all he will meet down there with the boys is the beast and his demise. The boys on the beach are determined to kill the beast. While Simon knows that the real beast is inside them the others believe that the beast is something they can hunt and kill.

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A man’s evil is mostly similar to a bee’s love of producing honey (“Sir William Golding”). To go deeper evil is in all of us, we were born evil and learned how to be good. According to the Biography Channel, Golding is stated as saying, “ ‘I began to see what people were capable of doing’ ” (“Sir William Golding”). In the novel a character named Ralph was a good child but when Jack the leader of the savage pack takes him to go hunting for pigs, Ralph starts to brag about how he stabbed the pig and cut his throat (“Golding 113).

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According to the University of Minnesota, his brain must have perceived all of the fear in the group of boys as negative and remembered it when he was tired, causing him to imagine the Lord of the Flies character. This quote is an example of Simon’s brain reacting to the signals from the amygdala, instead of rational processing. “They became motionless, gripped in each other’s arms, four unwinking eyes aimed and two mouths open” (Golding 98). Their unwavering fear of the beast magnified their experience from merely seeing the movement of the dead paratrooper to seeing a threat and consequently caused them to experience the sight before them more terrifying. Moreover, their fear has caused them to become incapacitated, according to the University of Minnesota, as they did not run away immediately after seeing the paratrooper that they perceived as the beast.

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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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