What Is The Role Of Internal Conflict In Lord Of The Flies

It is quite clear that conflict can trigger many emotions in a human. Conflict has a direct influence on the human mind and the way that people act. Written by William Golding, Lord of the Flies is a perfect example of how peoples’ decisions are influenced by a source of conflict. Different types of conflict push different significant events in the novel. External conflict tears the boys’ unity apart. Fear of the ‘beastie:’ evolves from internal conflict, and physical conflict worsens as the story progresses, creating a dangerous environment on the island. What appears as a democratic, organized government, soon turns into unorganized chaos. The chaos and incoordination was a result of external conflict. The collapse of the government and
Internal conflict changes the boys’ mindset and causes them to think illogically. This internal conflict is what keeps the boys up at night, and what breaks their unity. It’s a fragment of their imagination; it’s a dead pilot. What started as a ‘snake thing’ evolves into a ‘ghost’, and then becomes a ‘monster’. The beastie washes away their sanity and becomes their worst nightmare. It is the thing they fear the most on the island. The boys’ image of the beast becomes worse, and worse. At the beginning the beastie is described as, “A snake-thing. Ever so big”(48) and towards the end, “The beast had teeth....and big black eyes.”(178).This contrast shows how the depth of their internal conflict grew. Internal conflict between them and the beastie is requited. The beastie influences their actions, and they influence the beasties’ image. For instance, as the boys’ fear of the beastie become more irrational, so does their image of the beastie. Perhaps the boys enjoy the beasties company, and perhaps it feeds their hunger for savagery. Internal conflict is always complex to comprehend, but one thing for certain is that it has an influence on the boys’
The physical conflict seems to correlate with the boys’ image of the beastie. As the boys’ image of the beastie becomes more farfetched, the physical conflict worsens. A physical conflict seen near the beginning of the story is the boys’ re-enactment of the pig hunt. Simon is in the middle, and is used as the pig. What started out as a fun game, almost gets Simon killed. This is the first event in the novel in which savagery can be truly seen among the boys. The next major conflict took place on the beach. The two tribes, now being separated, have a feast together. When they hear something in the bushes while chanting in a circle, they immediately think it’s the beastie and tear him apart. The beast is described as small, and “was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (219). While this scene took place, it was dark and loud. Considering the circumstances of this event, the event itself can be considered as an accident. The next physical conflict which took place involves death, but not accidental death. It was