Fear is Insanity and Destruction: Lord of the Flies

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What is insanity? Insanity can be described in different ways and as different things. It can be either as simple as something that is foolish or as serious as being either unstable or without a sense of mind. In simpler terms, insanity is the idea of being insane and crazy. Insanity is obsession with something that isn’t understood. When something either isn’t understood or isn’t logical, it is feared. This fear overcomes humanity, thus driving humanity to insanity. Destruction is the act of causing so much damage to something, that it is no longer repairable. Destruction in some ways can tie itself into insanity, because in reality once somebody no longer has a sense of mind; they can no longer be saved. They believe what they have become is right; they don’t want to be saved.
William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is one of symbolism and allegory. William Golding uses his novel to prove fear to be mankind’s greatest weakness. The allegory in this novel reveals that not only is fear mankind’s greatest weakness, but it also brings out the inner-beast in people; forcing mankind into either insanity or their own destruction. William Golding captures this allegory through symbolism in the characters of Ralph, Jack, and the Lord of the Flies (the beast), as well as using their interactions with each other and the island.
William Golding uses the character of Ralph to symbolize the power of hope, the sense of order, and the image of light. “When he gets leave he’ll come and rescue us” (Golding 13). Ralph believes that the children will be rescued off of the island even with little information of what is going on. His hope of being rescued helps to connect him with the symbolism of hope. “I said before we’ll be rescued sometime. W...

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... (Golding 143). Golding produces the idea, that the beast is fear by having the beast want them to fear him, because without fear the beast doesn’t exist. The beast will be a part of the children as long as they have fear. Who is the root of all evil of all fear? The devil is what people connect to evil and to fear. “ The ‘lord of the flies’ is a translation… (Beelzebub in Greek).... suggestive name for the Devil… he is devoted to decay, destruction… and panic” (Epstein 205). The devil is devoted to both destruction and panic; he symbolizes both evil and fear. Lord of the flies translates to a word meaning devil. For this reason, it can be concluded that the Lord of the Flies also symbolizes both evil and fear, in addition to being devoted to destruction and panic.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Division of Penguin Putnam, 1954. Print.

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