The Beast Within

Lord of the Flies

This flow traces the novel's movement from an external monster toward the recognition that human cruelty is the deeper danger.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

An External Monster An External Monster from "Lord of the Flies". Fear Given A Shape The youngest boys speak of a beast in The forest, imagining an enemy that can be hunted or avoided.

An External Monster from "Lord of the Flies". Fear Given A Shape The youngest boys speak of a beast in The forest, imagining an enemy that can be hunted or avoided.

Fear Given A Shape The youngest boys speak of a beast in The forest, imagining an enemy that can be hunted or avoided. A Convenient Explanation Locating danger outside the group allows the boys to treat fear as a problem of geography. The story gradually reveals how inadequate that explanation is.

A Tentative Insight A Tentative Insight from "Lord of the Flies". Simon's Difficult Suggestion Simon tries to tell the boys that the beast may be part of themselves.

A Tentative Insight from "Lord of the Flies". Simon's Difficult Suggestion Simon tries to tell the boys that the beast may be part of themselves.

Simon's Difficult Suggestion Simon tries to tell the boys that the beast may be part of themselves. Insight Without Language He cannot fully explain his thought, and the others laugh rather than examine it. The truth appears early, but the group is not ready to accept it.

The Beast Given A Gift The Beast Given A Gift from "Lord of the Flies". A Head on A Stick Jack Merridew's hunters offer the sow's head to the beast, and Simon faces it alone.

The Beast Given A Gift from "Lord of the Flies". A Head on A Stick Jack Merridew's hunters offer the sow's head to the beast, and Simon faces it alone.

A Head on A Stick Jack Merridew's hunters offer the sow's head to the beast, and Simon faces it alone. Violence Looks Back In Simon's encounter, the supposed monster is connected to the boys' own actions. The head's title, The Lord of the Flies, makes the revelation both symbolic and bodily.

The Crowd Becomes The Beast The Crowd Becomes The Beast from "Lord of the Flies". A Human Killed by Fear The boys attack Simon because they mistake him for the creature they have imagined.

The Crowd Becomes The Beast from "Lord of the Flies". A Human Killed by Fear The boys attack Simon because they mistake him for the creature they have imagined.

A Human Killed by Fear The boys attack Simon because they mistake him for the creature they have imagined. Projection Made Real The beast never needs to kill them; their fear and collective violence do the work. The episode turns Simon's insight into a devastating fact.

A Wider Darkness A Wider Darkness from "Lord of the Flies". Recognition After Loss Ralph weeps over the deaths and destruction as the naval officer waits nearby.

A Wider Darkness from "Lord of the Flies". Recognition After Loss Ralph weeps over the deaths and destruction as the naval officer waits nearby.

Recognition After Loss Ralph weeps over the deaths and destruction as the naval officer waits nearby. The Human Source The boys are rescued from the island, but not from knowledge of what they have done. The novel's darkness lies in human capacity, not in a supernatural creature.

The first assembly, after a young boy describes his dream

During the evening assembly on fear

After the sow hunt, in Simon's forest clearing

During the storm, when Simon approaches the hunters

At the ending, as Ralph cries on The beach