1A_beastie

=Beastie =

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The Beginning
// "He still says he saw the beastie. It came and went away again an' came back and wanted to eat him-... He says he saw the beastie, the snake-thing and will com back tonight" (Golding 36) //. This quote is found in the second chapter, "Fire on the Mountain" and it is the first time beastie is introduced into the story. The context of this passage takes place right after Ralph, Jack, and Simon finish exploring the island finding out that there is no adult authority around. To di scuss what the kids were gonna do on the island, a meeting was called and in that meeting, a "shrimp boy" with a mulberry- colored birthmark about the age of six stepped up and began to talk. The quote above is what the little boy says and he says that there is a snake- like beast on the island. When the beastie is first introduced, it symbolizes the savage part that exist in all humans. The introduction of the beastie also introduces savagery and chaos in the island. The beastie can be seen as chaos and savagery because the kid describes it as a snake-like creature. This book has many references to the Bible and this is clearly one of them because Adam and Eve fell into the trick of the serpent which lead the whole world into chaos. However, the older kids make fun of the little kid because they do not know the true nature that exist in them because they grew up in the cities. The biguns refused to believe that the beastie existed but the littluns believed it because their mind was not fully influenced by society. At the end of the chapter when the kid with the mulberry- colored birthmark dies, that marks the point of the death of civilization on the island and ensure that the beastie (savagery and chaos) would overcome the island in the future.
 * David Lee, 03 June 2010**

The Rumor
//"I was asleep when the twisty things were fighting and when they went away I was awake, and I saw something big and horrid moving in the trees..."// (Golding 85). This is one of the first, but unclear physical appearances of the beastie in "Beast from Water." Phil, one of the littluns, exclaims his worries to the group and instills fear within everyone except Jack, who puts on an act to show his bravery and courage. Phil has a nightmare about the beastie, and wakes up in order to find help and comfort. In his hunt for help, he sees something large and frightening moving in the trees; this image confirms the existence of a beastie in Phil's eyes. Although Phil sees something moving in the trees, no one can confirm whether or not a beast really exists on the island. The biguns are frightened by this story, but Jack ensures them that Phil's vision was simply a figment of his imagination. It is reasonable for the biguns to believe that the beastie is just a result of nightmares instilling fear within Phil, and therefore any individual. Phil's encounter is similar to waking up from a nightmare in a dark room, and feeling like there is something or someone in the room with you. Jack proves to be the practical one by directly telling Phil that he is crazy for believing that there is a beastie on the island. He states that it is clearly a result of his childish imagination. Jack's boldness towards Phil encourages the biguns to resist the fear of whatever occupies the island with them in order to calm the littluns so there can be peace on the island.
 * Krystal Garrovillo, 01 June 2010**

The Discovery
// "Fifteen yards away from them came the plopping noise of fabric blown open. Neither of the boys screamed but the grip of their arms tightened and their mouths grew peaked... Then as though they had but one terrified mind between them they scrambled away over the rocks and fled" (Golding 98). // This quote occurs near the beginning of Chapter 6, "Beast from Air," when Sam and Eric are watching the fire on the mountaintop until they supposedly see the beast. This "beast" actually turns out to be a dead pilot still attached to his parachute, but that fact remains unknown to all the boys throughout the story (except to Simon). This scene represents the growing strength of the beast that originated from the boys' simple imaginations in the earlier chapters, as the presence of the beast had evolved from the fire and water. Now the beast appears in the night, where all the boys are asleep and vulnerable, and the words and authority of both Ralph and Jack are not enough to overcome the power of fear and darkness combined. The dead pilot could possibly be a sign of a potential savior to the boys, as his adult presence would likely be enough to bring order to the island. However, they were actually frightened by his silhouette, and given how darkness only brings about disorder and confusion, there was no attempt to investigate the reality that lay before them. Only light can help the boys distinguish friend from foe, but darkness, along with their imagination, fuels their fears of the the beast's existence. Regardless of whether a boy was a littlun or a bigun, they are all susceptible to the same fear; for example, Sam and Eric are two biguns who play a role in caring for the littluns, but even they could not help but succumb to fear instead of retaining their common sense (as shown in the quote above). The impression that the dead pilot makes upon all the boys reveals that they are afraid of the idea of the beast, which then provides Jack an oppurtunity to manipulate that fear and lead nearly all the boys into savagery.
 * Jimmy Yan, 03 June 2010 **

The Confirmation
// "'I'm going up to the mountain to look for the beast...' In front of them, only three or four yards was a rock-like hump where no rock should be...Behind them the silver of the moon had drawn clear of the horizon. Before them, something like a great ape was sitting asleep with its head between its knees. Then the wind roared int he forest, there was confusion in the darkness and the creature lifted its head, holding toward them the ruin of a face" (Golding 119). // This quote is found in Chapter 7, "Shadows and Tall Trees," when Jack decides to climb the mountain at night. Ralph only agrees to do so to keep his status in the eyes of the boys. They find the beastie, "a great ape" (Golding 119), but it's too dark for them to realize it's a human parachutist. The darkness hinders the reality of the beastie, causing even greater commotion among the boys on the island as Jack, Ralph, and Roger run back, terrified. This incident with the "beastie" shows the authority of Jack, but the common sense of Ralph. Jack is authoritative in the sense that he initiates the search for the beastie and stands out among the boys for starting the idea. However, Ralph has common sense in the sense that he knows it's a bad idea to search at dark. If they had listened to Ralph and had searched in the daylight, they would have seen that the beast was actually a parachutist and that no beast existed, eliminating the fear on the island. However, the boys' hopefulness grows hazy as they find out more about the beastie and gain a first person perspective of the beastie. Golding writes, "Behind them the silver of the moon had drawn clear of the horizon" (119). A moon in literature is usually used to symbolize the tiny sliver of hope characters have. This line is ironic because the characters are losing hope as they gain more information about the beastie. The line states the the moon draws clear, symbolizing that hope is growing within the characters. Yet, it is ironic because things are only getting worse on the island; the boys start to fear the beastie and cause chaos in the fight for power. Nothing is getting cleared on the island; the only thing that's drawing clear is the signal fire that's dying out. As chaotic as the beastie may be, it brings out the characteristics of the biguns in the novel. It creates fear among the people, but it shows the true characters of the older biguns. For example, the existence of the beastie creates fear among Ralph's and Jack's tribes, but it brings out the leadership skills of the two boys as they try to protect their respective tribes.
 * Grace Ko, 03 June 2010**

// "'Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!' said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter" (Golding 143). // This quote can be found at the end Chapter 8, "Gift for the Darkness" when Simon faces the Lord of the Flies and discovers the truth about the beasties. Simon faces an inner conflict, dealing with his moral maturity and progression since the beginning of the novel. Over the course of the book, Simon grows more aware of the environment and how the island functions. Since Simon has the capability to understand things that the other boys cannot, he became the first to realize that there were no "beasties." Also, this quote depicts how Simon is on a different spiritual level compared to the other boys, because he is able to listen to a mutilated pig head talk about the island. However, this also foreshadows Simon's death because while he is talking with the Lord of the Flies, he feels dizzy and cannot keep his eyes open. Also, the sarcastic tone of the talking head conveys a cynical message about how the boys were so naive about believing in beasties that lived on the island. Although there may not be physical "beasties" in the wild, there are beasties on the subconscious level. For example, the hysteria and the fear of beasties on the island first began with a little boy who thought he saw something in the dark or the trees. As time went by, that small fear erupted into a widespread hysteria about beasties and hunting them. Overall, the head in this quote implies that the worst part about the boys on the island is that they //thought// up the beasts from their own imagination. Ironically, since the only people on the island are the boys, they are the only "beasties" that exist on the island. Golding is trying to make a comment that the only things that the boys need to worry about or be afraid of is...themselves.
 * Eric Kang, 04 June 2010**

The Truth
//"The tangle of lines showed him the mechanics of this parody; he examined the white nasal bones, the teeth, the colors of corruption. He saw how pitilessly the layers of rubber and canvas held together the poor body that should be rotting away. Then the wind blew again and the figure lifted, bowed, and breathed foully at him... he took the line////s in his hands; he freed them from the rocks and the figure from the wind's indignity"// (Golding 146-147). In this quote, Simon sees the "beastie" and realizes its true identity. Rather than a fearsome monster with claws and sharp teeth, it is a deceased and rotting man. While the other boys were terrified of the monster's movements and actions, Simon sees through the "tangle of lines" and that it is merely a dead body dragged around by the wind. Upon seeing the body, Simon feels a sense of pity. He feels saddened by the conformity of the man to a supposedly superior force (the wind), reflecting the actions of some of the boys of the tribe (those who choose to follow Jack upon finding steady leadership). Simon cuts free the man, which means represents both the clearing up of the entangled misunderstanding and the releasing from society's norms through understanding. By cutting him free, the body is no longer subject to the rule of the wind. This shows the relative freedom attained. However, the body also goes limp because of the lack of leadership. Golding shows two consequences of lack of control: freedom and anarchy. Golding is also portraying the dire consequences of skewed perception and improper understanding. This scene also shows Simon's superior grasp of the situation. While others fled in fear without a proper hold of the situation, Simon's comparative calmness allows him to discover the beastie's true identity.
 * Ronald Thai,** **04 June 2010**

The Misunderstanding
// "The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore...the beast lay still, a few yards from the sea. Even in the rain they could see how small a beast it was; and already its blood was staining the sand" (Golding 153). // This quote can be found toward the end of chapter 9, "A View to a Death". The significance of this quote to beastie as a character is in the contrast of the actual identity of the beast and the perceived identity of a beast. Throughout the novel, it is evident that the character of the "beastie" seems to keep changing, from the snake like form, to the parachutist, and lastly to Simon, as described in this quote. Interestingly, Golding does not mention Simon's name in this scene until he drifts off into the ocean. By leaving out Simon's name, essentially, Golding took away Simon's character as a human, and gave Jack and the others a definite reason for their attack on Simon. In a way, Golding was using their perspective when using the word "beast". Simon, as the person to actually eliminate the beast on the mountain top, seems to replace the beast as he heads down to the beach bearing the truth of the situation. His physical state may set him apart, but what makes him seem like a beast is also his mysterious intelligence and understanding of the adult world. It seems as if all that Jack and the other children didn't understand became a fear which they labeled as beastie. In this way, Simon became a beastie himself. However, it is interesting to note that Simon as a beast was actually much weaker than the group, contrary to the notion that beasts should be strong and aggressive as demonstrated in our visual above. The daunting ominous character of a beast is rather found in the mob that savagely attacks Simon. This irony is further emphasized by Golding's description of "how small a beast it was" (153). Simon's blood stain on the sand, and the word "already" seem to imply that the sin of murdering Simon was inevitably attached to the boys and that it was an act that they couldn't take back or forget. The killing of this beast created another beast, the beast of irrationality and savagery later seen in Jack.
 * Rita Tuan, 03 June 2010**