What Is the Beast in Lord of the Flies?
The beast in Lord of the Flies is not a real animal. The boys imagine it, and the book shows that the thing they fear is inside them. The title refers to a pig's head the hunters leave on a stick as an offering to it.
"Lord of the Flies" is a name for the devil, a translation of Beelzebub.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| What the boys think | A monster in the forest or the sea |
| What it turns out to be | A dead parachutist, then their own fear and violence |
| Who explains it | Simon |
| The pig's head | Left on a stick as an offering |
| Origin of the title | Beelzebub, "lord of the flies" |
| Golding's first title | Strangers from Within |
Where does the idea of a beast come from?
On the first days, a small boy says he saw a snake-thing in the night. Ralph insists that there are no beasts on the island, but the fear has started. It grows among the youngest boys, who talk about it at night and have bad dreams. Soon the older boys are afraid too.
↑ Back to the topWhat do the boys think the beast is?
Different boys picture it differently: a snake, a creature that comes out of the water, a monster on the mountain. When a dead parachutist drifts onto the island and his body sits on the peak, with the parachute moving in the wind, Sam and Eric mistake it for the beast. The twins run to tell the others, and fear becomes panic.
Jack uses the fear to gain power. He promises to hunt the beast and gives the boys something to do about it: dance, chant, and leave gifts.
↑ Back to the topIs the beast real?
No. Simon goes up the mountain alone and sees that the beast is only the dead man. Earlier, in a clearing in the forest, he has an imagined conversation with a pig's head that suggests the beast is part of the boys. That is what the book means: the real danger is inside them.
Simon is killed by the others before he can explain.
↑ Back to the topWhat is the Lord of the Flies?
Jack's hunters kill a sow, cut off her head and set it on a sharpened stick as an offering to the beast. It is soon swarming with flies. Simon calls it the Lord of the Flies. The name is a translation of Beelzebub, a name for the devil, and it gives the book its title.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the title Lord of the Flies mean?
The title points at the pig's head, and at what it stands for: evil that the boys believe is outside them but that they carry with them. Golding's first title for the manuscript was Strangers from Within, which points at the same idea. It was considered too abstract and too explicit, and Golding chose Lord of the Flies in the end.
↑ Back to the topMore about Lord of the Flies
This guide covers the book only. Film and TV versions differ in places.