Discuss the Different Attitudes to the Explanations Of ¡®The Fear¡¯ Offered By Ralph, Piggy, Simon and Jack

Discuss the Different Attitudes to the Explanations Of ‘The Fear’ Offered By Ralph, Piggy, Simon and Jack

Simon Hearne

In chapter 5, ‘The Fear’ is first mentioned on page 102 by Ralph. He is trying to explain that order is breaking up and in this speech Ralph gives he talks about people getting frightened, he dismisses this as ‘littluns’ talk’, but then says he is frightened sometimes. He explains that this is like the fear of bogie men, childish and unjustified.

Jack is the next to speak and handles things much more directly and powerfully, he says that the littluns started the fear, but without basis. He is sure that the beast had nowhere to come from. He, also, says that everyone gets scared sometimes and the littluns should get used to fear like everybody else; hereby admitting that even he, the hunter, gets frightened sometimes. Later, Jack goes on to say that it would serve them right if something did get [the littluns], and he describes the beast as an animal, giving it a more realistic image. Jack is also the first to refer to the fear as ‘The Fear.’

On page 105, Piggy then says that there is no fear, unless ‘we get frightened of people.’ The reaction to this was a ‘half laugh, half jeer,’ showing that, although Piggy has come up with the best explanation, it is laughed at and dismissed because it was said by this fat, unfit, non-hunter. This is a typical explanation by Piggy; it is advanced and incomprehensible by the other boys. The others also do not see him for his intelligence or skills, but as a fat martyr figure, to be jeered and laughed at. Piggy has the most mature intellect out of the boys, yet he has difficulty explaining things; for instance, he tries to explain that ghosts could not possibly exist by saying ‘’Cos things wouldn’t make sense. Houses an’ streets, an’−TV−they wouldn’t work.’ He knows why ghosts cannot exist, but he cannot express himself, this shows he is not a natural leader, as being able to express yourself is an important part of leadership. Piggy is very critical about the concept of ghosts, and hence the beast, ‘I don’t believe in no ghosts−ever!’

On page 105, Piggy is the first to publicly state that his fear is of the dark side of humans, he thinks that ‘the fear’ that everyone shares is the same, yet, it would seem that only Piggy, Ralph and Simon’s fears are of people; everyone else is truly frightened of ‘the beast.’ This further demonstrates that Piggy’s outlook on fear is the same as his outlook on life, mental, not physical.

On page 113, Ralph asked everybody whether they believed in ghosts. After a pause, Ralph could see that everybody’s hand was up, except, of course, Piggy’s. This great ...

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On page 113, Ralph asked everybody whether they believed in ghosts. After a pause, Ralph could see that everybody’s hand was up, except, of course, Piggy’s. This great belief in something that could not exist irritated Piggy, even after his explanation of why they couldn’t exist, everyone still believed they could. He says that everyone should remember that he did not say he believed in ghosts. He started asking everyone whether they were humans or animals or savages and he said ‘What’s grown-ups going to think?’ Showing that he still believes that they could be rescued and, also, his still strong link with normality, and his aunt who seemed to keep him on a tight leash.

Ralph admits on page 102 that things are breaking up because of the fear, he says that that is littluns’ talk and that they must decide there is nothing in it. He is sure that there is nothing in it, and to him, the only reason things are breaking up is that people do not realise that fear cannot hurt them. A change in Ralph is visible here, they way he addresses the crowd is becoming more mature, more like an adult; yet, he is still childish. In his speech on page 102, he is able to formulate conceptual thoughts to an extent; nevertheless, he still has to search for the words to express himself and gets carried away on points so that he starts to say things he shouldn’t. He is uneasy with the thoughts of the fire going out and never being rescued; and being vulnerable. On page 112,Ralph shows that he is unsure about the existence of ghosts, ‘I don’t believe in ghosts. Or I don’t think I do.’ Ralph is annoyed when Jack says that it would deserve the littluns right if the beast did get them, this made the beast more real to the littluns and made them more scared because Jack made it seem as if the beast was after them.

Jack thinks that anyone who is scared of the beast is a ‘cry-baby’ and a ‘sissy’ and it deserves them right if the beast does get them. He wants to get rid of the fear in the hunters because he believes that the fear is starting to affect them and, therefore, the hunt. He, like Ralph, also says that he gets frightened, but everyone has to get used to it like him. In this way he is trying to gain more respect, and hence more power, from all the boys, but mainly the hunters. He says that fear cannot hurt anyone, and then says ‘’but there is no animal.’ This is the first time in chapter five that the beast is given mortality, this makes the beast seem even more real. This could have been a slip of the tongue for Jack, or, he could be trying to get everyone more frightened, so they become hunters to be protected by Jack, and their sheer number. On 104, however, Jack says, quite rightly, that he has been all over the island and that if there was a beast he would have found it by now.

Jack thinks that the common fear is of the beast, whereas Ralph, Piggy and Simon think that it is, or should be, of the dark side of man, moral evil. Jack has the backing of the boys because he is a hunter; he manipulates the meeting by getting everybody more scared about this animal and seeming protective and strong, so as to get more boys to swap from the weak side to the stronger one, the hunters.

Simon first appears in chapter five on page 106, where he admits to walking about in the dark. He does not appear again until page 111 where he becomes the first person to express to everyone his thoughts that the beast is them, in all of them, the evil side of everyone being brought out by the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their position. Simon has the same trouble as Piggy and Ralph in that he finds it difficult to express himself. ‘Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.’