Lord Of The Flies Themes

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Imagine a tropical island, soft white sand, clear blue water gently lapping against the shore, a setting sun. What would you feel like here? Would you feel blissful or tranquil? What about fearful, or angry? Most people would never believe that this serene setting could be home to unimaginable terrors, yet looks can be deceiving. One author, William Golding, describes just how terrible paradise can be in his book, Lord of the Flies. This eye opening story follows a group of boys who crash on a beautiful tropical island. Cut off from civilization, they are left to govern themselves. At first everything seems wonderful, but as time goes by the boys sanity begins to fade away. They imagine terrors in the forest, rumors of a beast begin to spread,fear…show more content…
They go about their days in constant fear of an attack, yet the beast never really makes an appearance until one of the boys, Simon, truly loses his mind. After seeing the brutal killing of a pig, Simon is hysterical. His view on reality, morals, and everything he has ever believed is being tested and this is when he begins to see things . His inner struggle manifests itself in a full blown hallucination in which Simon makes the revelation that the beast is in fact himself. As he stares at the head of the pig, he imagines that it's talking to him, blatantly stating his greatest fears." You knew didn't you? I'm part of you? Close,close,close! I'm the reason why it's a no go ? Why things are what they are?"(Golding 143) .This shows that even now that Simon has come to the realization that the beast isn't real, he is still externalizing his issues. He is still seeing a beast in front of him, yet he knows it's not real. It's like one part of his mind is still in denial, while the other is breaking through to reality. In real life, when people make realization such as this, they are often shunned by society and this is exactly what happens to Simon. He is never able to voice his discovery, he is silenced before he is ever able to share his revelation with the
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