People are Driven by Fear

In life, fear can be a powerful thing. Fear is said to be the most dangerous thing on this planet. It can completely distort reality into something unrecognizable and sometimes even lead people into doing reckless things. Without the guidance of a clear mind, savagery can even take place. In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies, the characters are also representations of those that make bad decisions because they fear what they don't know. When people fear what they don’t know it leads them to savagery when there’s no authority to stop and inform them. It shows that when humans are put in a position that they do not understand, in one way or another, they become barbaric.

After the explosion over the mountain, the boys woke Ralph up from his dream of feeding ponies. They told him that they had seen “the beast” and as they said that, Piggy tried to move them out of the way and go outside. The twins said it's horrible and to not to go anywhere. So, they all laid there listening to the island and the descriptions the twins said between the silence. “Soon the darkness was full of claws, full of the awful unknown and menace...They began to stir though still the world outside the shelter was impossibly dangerous.” (99) This quote shows that even though the boys had not seen anything outside, they were afraid. They did not know what could hurt them on this island so they had given a name to something that had not seen, felt, etc. The words “awful unknown” create a picture for the reader to indicate that it was so terrible because it was uncertain; there is no definite to what could happen. Situations like this also take place a lot in the real world. According to a U.S. News article, it is said that many times when a police officer is in a situation where their gun has to be used for their safety and for the safety of others, a cop “can get into a state of mind where they're scared to death”. They become terrified and sometimes as a last resort, violence is the only option they have. Not knowing how a criminal, thief, or suspicious character will act is fuel their actions which can (depending on the cop) turn from shooting an unnecessarily fatal shot to an all out rain of bullets. A shot in the dark can be better than no shot at all when you fear for your life.

The boys had just discovered a pig nursing it's piglets in the shade. Jack had been practicing so much that he was as silent as the shadows; the pigs did not suspect a thing. He left for a moment to inform his other hunters and, with caution, they all began to inch closer and closer to the animals.  They then (seemingly) strategically attack the pigs, gruesomely striking them with sharpened spears. In the end, the pig is dead and they put it's head on a stick. “‘The head is for the beast. It's a gift.’” Once Simon is alone after all the boys have gone, he is left “talking” to the pig (the Lord of the Flies). He is losing consciousness so the pig talking is a huge hallucination. “‘There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And i'm the Beast.’...’Pig’s head on a stick.’ ‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head.”(136-138)


In this scene, a great deal of events is happening. The boys go out and kill a pig, which was already an act of savagery because they put it's head on a stick, which doesn't benefit to anything. There is no one here (no grownups, no authority, etc.) to tell them that this is wrong or to tell them better ways of handling this situation. Throughout the book, these young boys are only getting increasingly more afraid simply of the darkness and the silence of the island, so they make up a terror that they can try to fight and eventually appease. The pig's head on a stick is a gift for the beast so that it won't harm them, even though “it” hasn't hurt anyone so far because no one's seen it. Simon’s hallucinations are also just subconscious thoughts being said to himself and the line “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” really says a lot about what he's thinking. He doesn't even think the beast is physical. He is terrified of being on this island and doesn't know what is actually causing the terror, so it is the Beast.


In the real world, people also have a hard time keeping a clear head in the heat of the moment. For example, a police officer in Texas was seen “cursing at several black teenagers, slamming the girl to the ground and unholstering his gun.” When police were called to the scene of a pool party where several teens were at the local pool. The altercation had just been an argument, but quickly escalated to a 14-year old being held down by a grown male police officer. It was said (and caught on video) that he did grab for his gun and indeed bring it out, waving it around the other teens. He only returned it to its holster when a fellow police officer told him to. If no one had been there to momentarily calm him down and not allow him to keep his gun out, the situation could have gone awry very fast. If you were to look at the video, you can see that this police officer was acting especially aggressive and excessive compared to the other cops. It was said by his lawyer that “he allowed his emotions to get the better of him” and that “He never intended to mistreat anyone, but was only reacting to a situation and the challenges that it presented,” People can be driven to acts that they do not even want to do because of fear and this was clearly shown here.

When police are put into stressful, sometimes even fatal situations, a lot can go wrong. And in the Lord of the Flies, that's exactly what happened. In modern day America, there are people to tell police what is right and wrong about their actions, but usually after the fact. In the novel, no one was there to ever say anything their barbaric ways. Killing the beast would obviously make them safe if their was such a creature in the first place. Fear plays a huge role on our actions and can even mean the difference between life and death. People are controlled by fear and they will continue to do savage acts if there is no one to stop them.


Works Cited


Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 2003.


"When It Comes to Police Brutality, Fear Is Also a Factor." U.S. News. Joseph P. Williams, n.d. Web.

   6 Apr. 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2014/12/05/

   when-it-comes-to-police-brutality-fear-is-also-a-factor>.


"Texas pool party chaos: 'Out of control' police officer resigns." CNN. Ashley Fantz, Holly Yan and

   Catherine E. Shoichet, 9 June 2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/09/us/

   mckinney-texas-pool-party-video/>.


"Texas Officer Was Under Stress When He Arrived at Pool Party, Lawyer Says." The New York Times.

   N.p., 10 June 2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/us/

   texas-officer-was-under-stress-when-he-arrived-at-pool-party-lawyer-says.html?_r=0>.


Comments (3)

Thomas Wallison (Student 2018)
Thomas Wallison
  1. I agree because fear just generally sucks.
  2. "Fear is said to be the most dangerous thing on this planet. It can completely distort reality into something unrecognizable…"
  3. That's a powerful way to say 'fear changes people's opinions/ability to read situations.' Well done.
Deja Harrison (Student 2018)
Deja Harrison

I agree with your comparison because you made really good connections. ¨When police are put into stressful, sometimes even fatal situations, a lot can go wrong.¨ I liked this line because I think it´s completely true and I agree with the fact that fear affects everyones lives.

Imani Williams (Student 2018)
Imani Williams
  1. I agree with your comparison because your examples from the book and all of your real world examples connect with each other.

  2. In life, fear can be a powerful thing. Fear is said to be the most dangerous thing on this planet. It can completely distort reality into something unrecognizable and sometimes even lead people into doing reckless things.

  3. I enjoyed reading your essay because it was very well - written and it was easy to point out your topic while reading it. Also, your real world examples and your context and quotes from the book connected.