Lord of the Flies

Title: Lord of the Flies
Author: William Golding
Date: August 31, 2010
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

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            In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a beast is mentioned. No one knows whether this beast is real or not, but the children claim that they have seen it at night when they were sleeping. However, the leader Jack does not believe them and claims that there is no beast on the island. The children are scared of being on the island without any adults and this fear causes them to think that there is a beast. Because of this strong emotion of fear, they believe that it is there and so they claim that it is true and that they have actually seen it although in reality, they did not. This is an example where a strong emotion (such as fear) causes us to imagine something as being true, in this case being the beast.

            If strong emotions can control our mind to perceive things that are not really there, does it mean that our mind is not able to think clearly when we are having strong emotions? Is our perception unreliable once we start having strong feelings? Are emotions stronger than our strength to control our minds? How capable are we of controlling our own minds?