Lord of the Flies Paragraph Timed Assignment 

         Whether we like it or not, humans are driven by fear. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, fear transforms from a thought in the back of the boys minds to a ravenous monster that leads them to madness. Fear manifests itself as the beast, changing in form to fit whatever new possibility that springs into their minds. When the boys crash land on this new and strange island, they see it as a paradise, but eventually they are overwhelmed by whispers of a beast. They initially deny it’s existence “Be frightened because you’re like that—but there is no beast in the forest.”[83], but eventually even the smartest boys on the island acknowledge it’s presence. The only problem is, that there is no beast, at least not in the physical sense.

‘He says the beast comes out of the sea.’ The last laugh died away. Ralph turned involuntarily, a black, humped figure against the lagoon. The assembly looked with him, considered the vast stretches of water, the high sea beyond, unknown indigo of infinite possibility, heard silently the sough and whisper from the reef. Maurice spoke, so loudly that they jumped. ‘Daddy said they haven’t found all the animals in the sea yet.’ [88]

The assembly quickly turns from jovially laughing at the kid who believes in the beast, to freezing terrified at the possibility of it. It shows that no matter how big and brave we think we are, we aren’t over fear, because there will always be the unknown. The pressured mind of a child can come up with wild possibilities, whether they believe it or not. “‘That’s a clever beast,’ said Piggy, jeering, ‘if it can hide on this island.’ ‘Where could the beast live?’” [87]Fear is within all of us, too close than we like to admit. Golding shows us that the mind of children can be easily manipulated, but what’s truly great about the book is that it applies to everyone.