live free of all constraints of the modern adult world. Like Adam and Eve, the boys are not aware of the capacity for evil that lies within them. As upper-class British schoolboys, their initial reaction to being on the island is one of excitement at the absence of adults, as well as one of faith that they will be able to establish a civilized society like the one to which they are accustomed (Oldsey 29). It is shortly after the arrival that the "littluns," the younger boys on the island, begin to complain about "snake things," and become fearful (Meitcke 34). From this point on, fear is a major theme of the novel. The snakes succeed in instilling fear in the littluns and, shortly after, are destroyed in the fire. The disappearance of the snakes is analogous to the Devil tempting Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and once causing them to fall, disappearing from view and entering the heart of man (Dicken-Fuller 16). Once the stage is set, Golding shows the slow regression of the boys' society, as fear prevails over innocence.
             Golding uses the "beast" as a means of developing this destructive fear. When one of the littluns mentions this beast early in the novel, the other boys are skeptical and shrug it off as a figment of a child's imagination. However, as the novel progresses, fear of this unknown entity drives the boys almost to insanity (Baker, "Golding" 10). The littluns scream in the night due to nightmares about the beast, and although Ralph adamantly denies its existence, many of the older boys discuss its presence as well. Golding develops this fear throughout the novel as the reader comes to realize that it is not only one of the unknown, but also a fear of the inherent evil of our race, an issue that can be traced throughout the novel. Golding monitors the development of this fear to show how it affects the boys and leads to the do...