A reason to be scared provides more reason to fear things, as we find out in chapter two. A rumour of a beast, which is described as a snake, is started by one of the little uns – the one with the birthmark. One of the older boys states what the boy with the birthmark describes as he lacks confidence in front of other people – “A snake thing – ever so big, he saw it”. This rumour strikes fear into the boys, and spreads like a rumour to. An idea surfaces from one of the wiser and older boys. “He must have had a nightmare, stumbling among all those creepers.” This shows that creepers here are something to scare people – a symbol of fear. This is because to the younger ones, creepers look similar to snakes (or “beasties”), and although to the older boys they might not look like something to fear, they are still a little afraid as the fear spreads around the little uns and up towards the big uns.
As the fear of the beast begins to take hold of the boys, they feel a need for shelters to protect them. However the older boys believe that the shelters will make the little uns feel safer, but really they are just creating a self illusion, as they need the shelter as much as the little uns, but are scared to admit it. A shelter in their eyes is a home, and a home symbolises security, protection a place to feel safe, so without a shelter, or a home, the boys are exposed to the elements and the beast.
With the shelters built, the boys feel a little bit more secure, and Jack, in his own way, reassures the group with his speech about how stupid everyone is by being afraid of something that doesn’t exist. However he says that if a beast did exist, he would have hunted it down and killed it by now, which sounds like Jack is not afraid to the others, but he must have some kind of doubt in his mind if he’s thinking about it being there. The boys don’t see through Jacks illusion and take the reassurance. However just when the boys are feeling better about the beast, the little un called Percival speaks up about his experience. He says that the beast doesn’t live on the island, it lives in the sea - which quickly squashes any assurance they just gained. The idea of a beast that could be anywhere around them, as after all they are trapped on an island, gives more fear – not knowing where it is, when it could strike. They are the prey, open and vulnerable, and the beastie is the predator, hidden and invisible. At least before, they had a rough idea where it was, but now they will have to watch their back more than ever – if the rumour is correct. The fear spreads even more and a sense of paranoia grips the boys. However Simon, who is viewed by us, the reader, to be the “helper” or “Christ-like” character, expresses a very deep point of view. He talks about how there is no beast, not physically any way. The beast is a figment of the boys imagination – as after all that’s what they are boys, who typically have vibrant imaginations. He believes that because there is no adults, no authority who usually do the protecting, and that their all alone, they have come up with this paranoid delusion which we know to be the beast. Simon, being one of the most mature on the island, in my opinion seems to be the closest to really understanding what the beast actually is.
In chapter six, we the reader, are told about a parachutist who was shot down we presume. We are told that he parachutes down to the island and is dragged around, giving the impression of a puppet to the wind, limp and lifeless – in other words dead. However we know about the parachutist, but the boys on the other hand don’t. So when Sam ’n Eric are looking after the fire and the spot the parachute flopping up and down – as if it was a living being, the two boys instantly believe it’s the beast. The boys didn’t have a reason to fear the beast, until they thought they saw something which they believed to be the beast. They jumped to a conclusion straight away, because of the rumours of the beast. And when the boys got back, they told the other boys, and once again the fear spreads around. However the “beast” was sighted near the fire, which means that the boys have no means of rescue without fire, unless they confront their fears. The boys, under the leadership of Jack, go up to the fire to confront the beast with weapons. They begin to fight fire with fire, and themselves gradually become a beast on their own. If another person, unknown to they boys was to accidentally stumble into their camp, the boys would surely mistake him/her for the beast and kill them. The boys have become ruthless in order to survive, and have become savages. Ironically Jack himself said “We don’t want to become savages”, yet he is a key reason as to why the boys have become the evil savages that they are now.
In chapter eight, Jacks hunters leave a gift for the beast, in hope that it will acknowledge them and leave them alone. However they are contradicting themselves, as they said that they did not believe in the beast. This shows that they have become more afraid of the beast as time has passed. Yet as the hunters become more aware and afraid of the beast, Simon on the other hand becomes less afraid. He already believed that there was no beast, but his “fit” showed him more clearly that there was nothing to be afraid of. He realises that a “pig’s head on a stick” is nothing to be frightened of.
Jacks group eventually split from Ralph and the others, and ultimately split from civilisation to. The conch represented civilisation, and without it, the boys become savages. The beast that they once feared has grown inside of them, and now they are the beast of the island. The novel refers to them as “savages”, indicating that they themselves have become what they feared the most – monsters. Living in fear of the beast has made them more ferocious and brutal towards unknown beings. They become more like a tribe and start chanting – “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” they have become evil.
