How Does William Golding Use The ‘Beast’ In The Novel As A Whole?

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In fact Ralph dismisses the idea by laughing at him, which shows how Ralph is desperately trying to get rid of this `beastie' idea- almost as if he is scared of the idea. This can be seen when Ralph repeatedly says "But there isn't a beastie!" which shows how Ralph already doesn't want this fear/ responsibility to be on him, because he just wants to be rescued. The mulberry-coloured birthmark boy describes the `beastie' in the assembly as "things like ropes in the trees" (p35), which gives the initial idea of a `snake-thing' for the littuns, but gives the initial idea of the `creepers' for the bigguns. This shows how the littuns are the first to understand the initial fear of the `beastie', because they are the ones who spend the most time in the jungle with creepers all around them, and due to little children commonly having wide imaginations they can believe or imagine this `beastie'. Also throughout the novel these `creepers' have been known to trap and entangle things, ...

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Ralph repeatedly says "But there isn't a beastie!" (p35), and when Ralph laughed "He was dreaming" (p35). This is significant because Ralph tries everything to get rid of this idea of the `beastie' - by using humour, seriousness and humiliation. The reason why is because he doesn't want this fear affecting all the other boys and more importantly himself, because he just wants to be rescued, and the fear of this `beastie' would hold them back from escaping the island.

Jack reacts the boy's revelation about the `beastie' by suggesting hunting and killing it. This is seen when Jack explains "Ralph's right of course. There isn't a `snake-thing'. But if there was we would hunt it and kill ...

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