Fear In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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Fear in Lord of the Flies
Fear is mankind’s essential illness. How does fear influence the boy’s attitudes and behaviours? Fear causes people to lose their understanding on themselves and their environment. One of the many notable themes in the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is fear. From the very first chapter until the last, fear plays an important role in the novel. The fear causes the boys to act savage, think irrationally, and create chaos in the group. The boys lose sense of control when fear strikes.

The Fear of the beast, was an essential example of fear in the story. This fear manifest into different characters and prevents the boys from doing things they have the potential to do. The fear is brought up by the boy's fear of being alone. At nights as they are scared and alone in a new environment, they make up an image of a beast. They first mention this “beastie” or “snake-thing” in Chapter 2 (34-35) “He says the beastie came in the dark” (littlun) “But I tell you there isn’t a beast!” (Ralph). This “beastie” was disregarded by the older boys, as a nightmare. However, the other little boys, do not dismiss it. From this moment on, the smallest of the boys begin to have bad dreams and are scared to go near the jungle. The jungle represents darkness, because it is an unknown place with little light, where there is the
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These fears lead on sequentially from one another. In the novel, the children are often tempted, and being as young as they are, the children who are starving for some real meat follow their leader Jack, instead of Ralph, and to their dismay lose almost all civilization because of the savageness they have within. They follow someone who has the ability to be clearly superior and forget the civilized world behind for they do not want to be an outcast and fear rejection in an unknown