Fear, the distressing emotion prompted by impending pain or danger. Such emotion can  cause a person to act in ways he may normally not, whether it be productively or negatively.  A productive reaction benefits people, while a negative reaction can spark something horrible to happen. The reactions people have to fear are explored in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. In the novel, Golding uses the beast as a symbol to convey that the fear of the unknown releases the innate beast within humans, ultimately leading them into savagery.
    As the boys attend their first official assembly, they are presented with the problem of a beast, which evokes fear and begins to drive them toward savagery. While at the meeting, Piggy vocalizes for a little boy, too afraid to speak, information about a possible monster on the island: “He still says he saw the beastie. It came and went away again an’ came back and wanted to eat him” (36). This is the first time that something to fear has been mentioned on the island. The little boy, who claimed to have seen the beast, was unable to describe the creature; the appearance of “the beastie” remains unknown, thus stirring up fear among the boys. In addition, his claim, that the beast “wanted to eat him,” illustrates just how scared the boy was. He did not actually know what the beast wanted, but, out of fear, the boy assumed the beast would do something eerie—take his own life. Furthermore, Golding’s usage of the word “beastie” rather than “beast” emphasizes that the boy was so frightened he felt the need to make the beast less scary, doing so by adding an “ie” sound to the end of the word. Moreover, later on in the meeting, Jack reassures the little kids that he can hunt down the beast: “But if there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill it” (36). Jack had already found a pretext to go hunting, pigs for meat, but he manipulates the idea of a beast, by not denying its presence, in order to sustain the importance of hunting. Jack reassures the little boy that he and his hunters would “hunt it and kill it”; this advancement towards hunting, fostered by fear, only facilitates the beginning into savagery. Thus, the beast causes fear among the boys, leading them toward savagery.
    As the novel continues, the boys’ fear releases their inner beast, which ultimately completes their descent into savagery. While he is talking to the Lord of the Flies in the end of Chapter Eight, it furthers Simon’s suspicions about the beast: “There isn’t anybody to help you. Only me. And I’m the beast” (143). Primarily, Golding’s use of the word “anybody” creates a generalization; it reveals that nothing can help Simon, and implies that not even somebody from off the island could save him. Also, the Lord of the Flies states that only he can save Simon, and he is the beast. Simon, not fearful of this truth and unwilling to become savage, denies this offer of savior from the Lord of the Flies. Therefore, Golding’s generalization and Simon’s choice of death rather than savagery foreshadow his impending doom. In addition, Simon sees the dead parachuter and realizes what the beast is: “The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as fast as possible” (147). Describing the beast as “harmless and horrible,” Golding depicts two different things: first, what the boys thought was the beast, the harmless, dead parachuter, and second, the horrible, innate beast within the boys. This distinction establishes that Simon knows the beast is really within them. Additionally, this “news” illustrates that Simon’s realization about the beast is, in fact, new to him, and none of the other boys know his discovery. However, with Simon’s realization of the beast being inside the boys, he also realizes that the beast causes their savagery. Moreover, Simon’s desire to inform the boys of this news “as fast as possible” reveals his sense of urgency. Because he knows the innate beast facilitates savagery, is aware of the ramifications of such a descent, and knows he cannot be helped, Simon’s need for action further foreshadows his impending doom. Accordingly, the beast within the boys triggers their savagery, inducing Simon’s murder: “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (153).  Firstly, Golding’s use of “at once” and “surged” demonstrates that the boys attacked suddenly, violently, and immediately. Secondly, the word “poured” conveys that the boys going after Simon was as natural as rain pouring down from the clouds. Also, the fact that the boys “leapt” on Simon assimilates them to a wild lion, leaping at its prey to kill. Lastly, Golding’s juxtaposition of the words “struck, bit, tore” implies that these actions happened consecutively after one another; also, striking, biting, and tearing are all vicious actions. Therefore, Golding’s language foreshadows Simon’s impending doom, offers an explanation to the boys’ savagery, and emphasizes Simon’s blatantly grotesque murder, thus illuminating the boys’ descent into savagery, ultimately completed by their inner beast.
    Though the fear of the unknown begins to drive humans to savagery, it is ultimately the innate beast within humans, awakened by fear, that completes their descent into savagery. Therefore, the boys became savage because they let their inner beast control them. In the first part of the novel, the beast evokes fear, which then only leads them towards savagery. In contrast, in the second part of the novel, it is the innate beast within themselves that solidifies their savagery. The fear of the unknown is only able to start the boys descent into savagery; in order for them to be completely savage, the innate beast within themselves has to be awake and in control. The innate beast, similar to what happens in the novel, only awakens if humans let fear of the unknown take the better of them. They must not become paranoid about such fears, and stay in control of themselves when they are scared. Thus, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies ultimately suggests that although all humans have an innate beast within themselves, they can refrain from savagery by not letting fear awaken such a beast and control the beast if it does indeed awaken.