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18.04.2013

How does William Golding use and develop the idea of the beast in Lord of the Flies?


How does William Golding use and develop the idea of the beast in Lord of the Flies?

 It’s seen throughout the novel that Golding thinks greatly of the mind and human nature in general, creating a novel that interprets different aspects of the human mentality into characters and acts as a microcosm for society. He also vastly exploits the idea of the beast, a.k.a. Original Sin, in each of us, expressing it in most areas of our lives as seen on a smaller scale of the island. I hope to expand on the idea of the beast and present to you Golding’s great talent in opening our eyes to our own selves.
 In Chapters One and Two, though very subtly, the author also invades us with an idea of something greater at large on this island. Only in retrospect can one notice that the choir is described to be a kind of “dark” beast moving along the beach. They are even addressed as “a creature”, as they approach. We do not notice it at first, but even now Golding gives us the feeling of darkness and mysteriousness about the newcomers, that give pretext to the slow derision to savagery further in the novel. In Chapter Two, though, the beast is now addressed directly as the “beastie” that the little ones as afraid of. Though in the light of day, the island is a shining paradise, when night comes all the humans on the island feel the gloom beating down on them. The same can be equally said about our own world, where life can seem brilliant and full of perspective during the day, but at night one feels somehow defied by this sense of well-being and dwells on the fact that it will change nothing on a bigger scale.
 Also, in Chapter Two, we already see this deterioration of Jack and some others to a kind of mild savagery. Jack, himself, talks about killing and murder. Though reined down by a sense of society still in place, Roger also gives a feel of foreboding as we see the sinister side of him that unleashed can bring much mischief. The fire on the island also has a very distinct flavor of fear, as Golding cleverly sets us up for two more flames – one in the boys’ souls and another on the island itself that finally and continuously destroys all signs of life in the end. Through the entire premonition though, without knowing the further evil that sets foot on this miniature word, we simply dismiss this as the fears of a childhood fantasy so far from truth, but yet so close to reality.
 Chapter Five though is a chapter of great importance in the further misgiving of their collective sanity. Addressing one’s fear, now commonly used as a method of cure in consulting psychology, was considerably depicted in the novel as a starting point of realization by the author of the different viewpoints and possibilities of the mind that come through to the reader through the various characters in play. Simon with his ever philosophical and vaguely religious viewpoint stated that “’maybe it’s only us’”. Only now as the portent of the future presents itself, we realize how terribly close he may have been to the truth. Piggy, with his common sense and intellect, also realizes, though on a more logical scale, that we could actually get “frightened of people” at times as we do in the real world at a kind of unconscious level. The fear in this Chapter is almost tangible as Golding wisely gives us small, but valid remarks on a mirror image of our own lives.
 “Fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream.”
That is what Jack says to the boys during their discussion of fear. And it is true, to some respect, in the way we govern our consciousness. To dwell on fear… Well, it is a hard job for any of us. Though he says that fear can’t hurt anybody that fear was the cause of Simon’s and Piggy’s death. The fear is part of the beast – the fear of decisions, the fear of others and oneself, the fear of being alone. Those are all fears we see building up in this microcosm of an island and when they unleash, the true face of humanity will present itself. It is a build-up to a greater conflict.
 In Chapter Six, the children address their fear as an equal, giving a name – a symbol. In my opinion, it gives the fear power over them as they go searching for this “beast” on the island, giving in to the animalistic-like thrill of locating a dangerous predator. It is kind of a supporting Chapter, as the author portrays it – something that joins the two major parts of the story together; the part where there is only fear, and the part where there is the beast. Also in this Chapter, there is the conflict between the two leaders – Jack and Ralph. It is not a first, but it is a major part of this atmosphere that we can feel on the dusty sands and the mirage. Simon experiences in this scene of the novel, a kind of incredulity at the beast – a disbelief that something so horrid yet unknown could be found here. Simon is the philosophical being in the mind of men, and he was and is right – all the beasts are only human, both “heroic and sick”. I think the author, using this character that while not major is a great part of the novel, encourages us to question this idea of the “beast” and dwell on the fact that it can be “only us” and it can be only a “sin” to begin with.
Chapter Seven is filled with a ghastly frenzy that further threatens us to believe that it may all end worse than expected. Over the whole of these scenes there is a kind of madness; the hunt, the chant, the “tribe-like” atmosphere, all encourage us to believe that soon society will falter. And as society falters, the beast will come. The beast, at this point, is intangible, but something that is always there in their subconscious urging them on into the vicious savages that they depicted as at the very end. There is also mention of the parachutist in the Chapter. Personally, I find it as a kind of Trojan Horse – a thing that is not what it is seen to be. The boys were afraid of it, calling it the beast and all, and searching for something to grip on in their fear. The boys wanted to give their fear, which is in a way the beast, a physical body so that they would have the ability to confront it as something real. Or, on the contrary, be overcome by it.
Chapter 8 has more of a real focus on the beast than any other previous chapter. Here, the beast is worshipped, met and “spoken to” – confronted. Jack and his hunters degrade morally and physically as their motives become colored by the wildness around them. They, like real savages, make sacrifices to the “beast”, as if it were a dark god of an unknown world. The choir boys, not long ago singing of paradise and Jesus, now refer to aboriginal faith and gift. A head of a pig; the death of innocence. Figures, doesn’t it? The “beast” develops now, as a god, worshipped and made complacent to these unwholesome humans. It seems that the boys give up on finding the beast on the island (because there is none), but still cannot forget about it. And then Simon meets the beast; his own beast, in his mind. And he converses with it; or it converses with him, in any case, making him understand what he couldn’t put into words before. It was the “Lord of the Flies” – the devil, Beelzebub, Satan; a creature with many names, but one entity. Simon recognized it. Simon understood. I feel that the author is giving us a message through those words that there is a devil in each of us – darkness, a sin, evil. Golding is trying, in one respect, to realize that everyone can commit an act of bad will, be it on a solitary island, a metropolis or a patch of countryside. And people do, in many cases, not realizing it.
“…I’m the beast…I’m part of you…”

Now all the build-up has come to a logical conclusion – the degradation came to its outmost point of savagery. Chapters 9 and 10 talk of murder and violence and foreboding. It says that there was a storm the day that Simon was killed, like a memory from the night when they grew stranded on this land.
“Nothing prospered but the flies that blackened their lord…” It is quite true.
The only thing that ever prospered on this island this whole novel was evil. Simon, a portrayed Jesus, recognizes this and comprehends that there is nothing more to fear on the island except turning into what they fear. He finds the corpse of the parachutist, the truth of the Trojan Horse, but it is after all too late. It is said that the parachutist is a “parody”, a vile “parody” on something only vaguely truthful. At the same time of this ruthless realization, the choir boys take a turn for the worst. Theirs is a “demented but partly secure society” of violence and threat. The fear of the unknown and, partly, the things that cannot be controlled lead them into a wild frenzy.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
It is a steady “beat”, an incantation of power that the boys lead each-other into. So when ‘the one that knows’ enters their “feast” and “tribe”, he is ignored and destroyed. Here again the boys are describes as an “organism” or a “creature”, their hearts beating like a steady “pulse”. Even in reality, when one works oneself up into such a turmoil or agitation, it enforces itself into your perception of people and your surroundings. This is the machination that Golding in supposition is trying to convey.

During the last few scenes of the Chapter, Simon is even referred to as the beast, as if even the author is infected with this superficial excitement of the dance. One can say, that Lord of the Flies has had his way. It is ironic that the one, the only one that knows the truth is mistaken for “the beast”. It can be seen by some as a sign to live life as it is and not look for reasons, but others may state that it is not always like that and finding the truth is quite and foremost important. At the very end of the manslaughter, it is said that there was only “the tearing of teeth and claws”, like a real animal. Also the author noted how “small the beast was” and how dead. Simon was murdered. And all evidence of the parachutist and the truth, in a way, destroyed. In Chapter 9, the Trojan Horse is carried and disposed of by the sea, while Simon, again depicted as a holy figure, slowly makes his way to heaven.

Chapter 10 tells us about the aftereffects of the feast and the reactions that the different figures of the novel have to it. The analytical Piggy refuses to dwell on the murder and the happenings of last night, altering his own perception. He wants to believe it was a accident, wants to block the guilt away from his mind. Ralph, the leader, on the other hand, wants to discuss this event and acknowledge, but yet again blocks it away from his mind. Jack, then, idols the beast and claims that he isn’t dead, because this morality of “protection against the beast” is really what his authority is all about. Jack again puts out sacrifices for this idol and abuses power by violence and cruelty. The choir is again addressed as savages, not longer by name, but as a uniform entity. This, in my mind, brings up an image of a tribal setting – of collective sanity and mindset. Golding is very subtle in this Chapter with the whole “beast” issue, but actually leads us to enforce the idea of the beast onto the cruel tribe itself, as this “fear” manifests into a thirst for blood. The way Sam and Eric react to the murder mirrors reality, as when we are confronted with one of our misgivings we lead ourselves to believe that it was an accident or that “we were never there”. It is common to try to block oneself out of a collective crime – “It was not me, officer! I arrived late / left early!”
It is common and it is hopeless.

Chapters 11 and 12 are the concluding Chapters of the novel and the climaxing ones to be sure. It seems that the choir boys have lost all their morality as they steal and kill without regret. The beast shows itself as the remaining “order” of the island advance upon the tribe and as Roger, who now is violence himself, consciously now kills Piggy - the last hope of society on the island. He and the conch were basically the last shreds of order in the wilderness and now they were both destroyed and it seems as though the beast in the hearts of men is fully free. There is the hunt for Ralph in the last Chapter, who is now an outcast even out of this psychotic society and is the solitary “warrior of peace” on this island. Though by looks, he is more of a pariah or outsider that is wildly hunted. The Chief, who is Jack, and his savages set fire to the island once again, burning out all life of the island and leaving it bare and weak. The “world” is destroyed on a minor scale of the island by humans, who being afraid turned into a thing much worse than their fear. It is something that, one may suppose, occurred to Golding and that he represented in this passage. It may happen and sanity may become a sin, but one must hope that not, for if it does in the real world, there will be no adults to arrive on the island just in time. There will be no happy ending like in a novel, because it would be for real.

In my opinion, Golding’s use of metaphors and language in this novel is skillful beyond belief as he touches many themes and subject of interest all along, manifesting it into one substance, e.g. The beast, that changes and adapts over the course of the story. This deep insight into fear and wilderness in general realized in the real world is inspiring, for much can be learned from this piece of writing. Golding merges the idea of both a micro- and a macrocosm, that while reflecting the real world on a smaller scale also dissects the human mind and personality into defined characters that can be seen in trace in all of us. It is an admirable piece of literature and the idea of the beast in each of us as a philosophical aspect makes the writing even richer, although I surely hope that the destruction of the world, so skillfully crafted in pen and paper, will not impend itself in reality for the many years to come.

By Valentina C.  



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