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The power and danger of fear - Coggle Diagram
The power and danger of fear
paragraph 3: the fear these boys have controls and manipulates them
dictatorship
Jack uses manipulation to instill fear into the other boys, which Golding uses as a parallel to Hitler
the cold war was a war of fear
the lord of the flies
the boys' fear of this unknown creature makes them act barbaric
simons interaction
fear of the unknown
this fear creates illusions
changes their reality
they fear something so much they start to believe it's real
this fear blinds them from seeing that the only thing they should be scared of is themselves and each other
The boys conceptualize the source of all their worst impulses as a beast, some sort of actual animal or possibly supernatural creature inhabiting the island. Yet all along the boys take on the persona of the beast when they act on their animal impulses. There is no external beast.
killing Simon shows how fear has perpetuated itself into the island and is getting rid of anything that might alleviate it
world war 1
fear was exploited by the government and dissemeinated through propoganda
paragraph 2: fear represents weakness
the boys in Jacks' tribe use masks to hide their fear
Jack's fear of not having power makes him put on a mask, hiding his identity and allowing him to do things which he would have been too scared to do before, in order to prove himself to the others
however this mask also brings out the more savage side to him
the mask gives him power
the more savage Jack becomes, the more control he has over his tribe
the mask changes him into a savage
the mask resolves his inner conflict by making him choose his violent, animalistic side over his civliiside side
"He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness."
Although Jack doesn't belive in the beast, he portrays himself as a protector of the other boys from the beast, and so without the fear of the beast he loses his power
the masks combat the weakness Jack and the other boys feel
Jack's mask makes him fearless
extract
paragraph 1: Golding shows the destructive nature of fear that can take over anyone
Jack's fear of not being the best makes him desperate to do anything to prove otherwise
Jack's fear creates an inner conflict between his civilised schoolboy self and the barbaric, violent side to him
evidence from when he killed the pig, contrasted with when he tried to kill Ralph
Ralph and Piggy, who are the main antagonists and represent the 'good' qualities in people, also let their fears consume them and acted on thwm
their fear of being alone on this stormy night leads them to join in on the dance, to be part of "this demented but partly secure society"
this group ends up leading to the death of Simon
the boys' fear of death ultimately kills Simon
they think Simon is the beast
"There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws."
Again savagery is connected with a lack of verbal communication; language is, of course, one of humankind's greatest inventions and that which separates humanity most dramatically from the lower forms of creatures.
speech seperataes humans from animals
Further, Golding uses the phrase "teeth and claws" (representing the primitive use of physical attributes or features as weapons) instead of spears (the use of tools as weapons).
The phrase also recalls Samneric's fanciful description of the beast as having teeth and claws (although they neither felt nor saw them in reality). In this instance, the true beast — evil — acts through the frenzied mob; those imagined teeth and claws bare themselves for real.
golding illustrates the point that savagery is not confined to certain people in particular environments but exists in everyone
Jacks' lust for power and authority causes him to commit and encourage savage acts against his own kind — an accurate measure of his depravity
when the boys attack Roger, even rational Ralph participates
The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering
Ralph feared Jack's tribe and what they had become
ralph become savage in order to protect himself from other savages
irony
at the beginning of the book, all the characters face the internal conflict between civilisation and savagery
the internal conflict is still present at the end of the book, as Ralph and Jack try to fight, but are unwilling to use the 'lethal points; of their spears.
this shows that, just as in chapter 1 when he couldn't kill the pig, the "enormity of knife descending and cutting into living flesh" even made a savage such as Jack reluctant (although, he did it anyway)
conclusions
when a society is made up of people who are controlled by their fears and consumed by evil, like these boys, their downfall is inevitable.
the danger of no fear
Roger represents this - though he is the same age as the other boys, he doesn't fear murder or killing, which makes him able to inflict damage onto others
Roger represents the torturer for every dictator - a reminder to others of what would happen should they oppose their leader
Golding capitalises on the oxymoron that children - traditionally seen as innocent and pure - can be capable of the violence and destruction as seen in this book