The first development of the beast between the boys starts with Jack and the hunters. This occurs when the hunters begin to kill not because of need, but simply because of the rituals and the action of killing. As Golding describes once, Jack isn’t entirely satisfied by the hunting of pigs, but still carries on doing it. It is necessary to understand that Jack felt the need to kill pigs, even thought there was enough food supply in the island. By this point, we could say that the evil inside of Jack started to emerge, having the need to kill simply because of lust. Also, another development of the beast within the boys is with the violence. The boys seemed to be each time more and more violent, for example in their rituals. With Jack, to some extent, it seemed that the evil had started to take control over him.
During a meeting in Chapter five, the talk about ghosts and of a beast emerges. Most of the boys agreed that there was some sort of evil present in the island. Simon is the only one to realise that there is no beast, but just a form of evil or savagery inside all of us, that could manifest in many different ways, but he could not get this point across. This meeting also meant the definite split between two groups in the island.
Next, a physical form was given to the beast: a dead fighter pilot. When he was discovered, he was said to be the beast for various reasons. First of all, the boys were continuously looking for some kind physical form that they could call the beast, this way they could convince themselves that the beast didn’t lie within them. This was a subconscious search, as none of the boys (except Simon) had yet realised that the beast came within them. Secondly, it was night when they discovered the dead pilot. When the search party, made to confirm the existence of the beast, found the dead pilot it was also night, and the dead pilot seemed to be a giant ape, confirming all the boys worst nightmares.
The Lord of the Flies in the novel was a manifestation of Satan, in form of a pig’s head. Golding uses this symbol to confirm that what Simon thought about the beast was right. During the Lord of the Flies and Simons’ apparent conversation, “ … I am the Beast… Fancy thinking I’m something you can hunt down and kill? You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close!” the readers understand that the beast does lie within the boys and that every person has an evil inside. Later on Simon climbs to the top of the mountain and finds the truth about the dead pilot. Unfortunately, at this point the evil emerged among the boys and Simon was mistaken by the beast, and was brutally killed in a ritual. This is a very important part of the novel as it could mean that the evil was starting to take control of the boys’ minds.
Towards the end of the novel, chaos and anarchy became rife. Golding described this like “a world were insanity and evil rule.” It was even possible that the boys saw Ralph as the beast, and that is why he was being hunted down like a pig. Golding chooses Ralph not to die, and possibly evil to loose. It is very important that the only reason that the boys start to realise what they have done is because of the arrival of an adult figure on the island, which allows order to be restored. Defects exist in any society, and they are usually caused by human nature- Golding sees this as undeveloped human evil. This is the beast. In this novel, Golding expresses what the thinks would occur, if with the right set of circumstances, the beast will reveal within society and bring corruption, anarchy, chaos and savagery.
