Savages In Lord Of The Flies Essay

“What are we? Humans? Or Animals? Or Savages?”~ William Golding. Throughout the book Lord of the Flies that question will continue to run through your mind. It’s going to leave the reader wondering whether or not they would act the same as the boys in the story. There’s always a right and wrong way to handle whatever life throws at you. You can handle it as a Human, Animal, or a Savage. One of the boys from the story chose to handle it as a Human. Simon’s conversation with the “Beast” can tell us that he was vulnerable and that his theory of what the “Beast” might be was correct.

Simon’s theory was that the “Beast” was in themselves. In chapter five Simon says “Maybe there is a beast”, “What I mean is, maybe it's only us” : (Golding, 126). The boys are fearing something unknown throughout the story. They don’t know if the beast is a animal, person, or object. Fearing the unknown is worse than fearing something that you know exist because you don’t know what to expect from it. Simon says that the beast could be in themselves because none of the boys know each other personally, which shows that none of them knows what each other are capable of. “We do not fear the unknown. We fear what we think we know about the unknown.”
Unlike the boys Simon doesn’t like to fight or argue. Instead he goes into the forest so he can meditate and clear his head. Simon tries to find himself and the meaning of life and fear everytime he goes into the forest. While everyone else is freaking out about the “Beast” Simon is figuring out a way to confront the beast if there is one. Simon isn’t afraid of the “Beast” he’s afraid of what the fear of the beast is going to do to everyone else on the