r irrational force of the psyche under "normal" circumstances, but under threatening or extemely stressful situations, dark,
irrational impulses are unleashed and behavior becomes erratic or violent. The dramatic situation in which the characters of Lord of the Flies are placed is an excellent vehicle for exploring the opposing forces of the rational and the irrational and the societal and personal conflicts these opposing forces create.
Initally, Ralph's and Piggy's actions are charateristic of an ordered society. They call an assembly to formulate plans for building shelters, obtaining food, and building a rescue fire. In his essay, "William Golding's Lord of the Flies," Samuel Hynes asserts that "this rational society begins to break down almost at once, under two instinctual pressures - fear and blood lust"(16). The childrens' fear of the "beast" they eventually believe truly exists and the hunters' obsession with killing a pig are the primary causes for the disintegration of rational society on the island. Irrational fears have created the beast, and the beast functions as a symbol of the cruelty, irrationality and fear that arise from the anarchic forces of man's being. To explain the beast, Sim
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