Fear is the main influence on the boys' actions throughout Lord of the Flies. Fear; anxiety caused by the expectation of evil danger. The anxiety felt by the boys as they anticipate evil throughout the novel is clearly an influence on their actions. Anxiety; state of being troubled, worried, uneasy. This anxious state felt by the boys causes them to react in ways they normally wouldn't have.
The fear of never being rescued has a big impact on Ralph's actions to keep the fire lit. Ralph feels the need to constantly have a fire burning to ensure that when a plane or boat is near the island, they will be seen. "I said before, the fire is the main thing. Now the fire must be out,"(p.102) Ralph states when he assumes the fire is out. His statement is a reaction to his fear that they won't be rescued if the fire is out and smoke isn't visible. "We've got to relight that fire. You never thought of that, Jack, did you? Or don't any of you want to be rescued?"(p.102) Ralph angrily states due to his fear of the fire being out. Ralph's fear of not being rescued makes him believe that there is a need to constantly keep the fire burning. Ralph and the other boys react to their fear in many ways.
The boys' fear of being isolated on an island without adults leads them to create an imaginary beast. The imaginary beast is something that results from the assumption that without an adult to protect them, there must be a beast to hurt them. Piggy interprets what the small boy with the mulberry scar tells the boys, "The beastie came in the dark. Then he couldn't see it," (p. 36) as the fact that there is a beast. Jack spoke "The head is for the beast, it's a gift," (p. 137) as he ordered Maurice and Robert to leave an offering for the imaginary beast. The boys' fear of lack of adult supervision and result of
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