Fear in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

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Fear in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

Human's fears should not be taken lightly. Fear could do anything to one's minds, though without fear, man can be as savage as animals. In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding presented fear of the unknown to be a powerful force in a man's mind. Fear of the unknown is a powerful force, which can turn to either insight or hysteria. The kids feared of not being rescued off of the island, so they made signal fires on top of the mountain. Then, there and gone, Roger's fear of the old rules he abided to. Also, there were the fears of the beast which confused and isolated the kids from the top of the mountain.

The kids' fear of not being rescued from the island led the group to the top of the mountain to make signal fires. They used Piggy's glasses in order to make that fire:

Jack pointed suddenly. ‘His specs- use them as burning glasses!'

Piggy was surrounded before he could back away. ‘Here- let

me go!' His voice rose … Jack snatched the glasses off his face

Ralph moved the lenses back and forth…Almost at once a thin

trickle of smoke rose gently…(Golding, 40-41).

Piggy, who represented clear conscience or brilliance in mankind had no respect or say over much things on the island from the others. Piggy thought it was a bad idea and indeed, it was:

Smoke was rising here and there among the creepers…Small flames

crawled away through the leaves and brushwood, dividing and

increasing…Acres of black and yellow smoke rolled steadily

toward the sea (Golding, 44).

This fire destroyed a big part of the island, thus limiting them on meat or fruits to survive on. This same disaster happened again when Jack and the hunters hunted Ralph, "Now the fire was nearer; those volleying shots were great limbs, trunks even, bursting. The fools! The fools! The fire must be almost at the fruit trees-what would they eat tomorrow" (Golding, 198). They went as far as burning the whole forest to smoke out Ralph. The event, if wasn't for the ships noticing the fire and rescuing them was all but positive, the hunters didn't think as to what would happen next after they burn the forest and kill Ralph. Ralph of course wasn't even a threat to them; Jack feared that Ralph's presence could be disastrous toward his control.

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