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.