Essay 3- The beast on the mountain

In the story the boys claim to see a beast on the mountain next to the signal fire. This "beast" is really only a dead parachutist who fell down from the sky like a symbol of their link to the adult world that has snapped.
First Samneric, the twins who were on duty, see it near the fire when they awake from sleeping on the job. Then Ralph, Roger, and Jack go up the mountain to see for themselves. Jack goes ahead and claims to see the beast. Then, slightly disbelieving, Ralph and Roger go up with Jack to see. They then see it. Ralph describes it as "a great ape".
The number of times that people see this "beast" symbolize the amount that they are tempted by the real beast, inside themselves. First it is seen by Samneric who are in the end, tempted by the beast and the terrors of Roger. Then Jack sees it. He completely gives in to the inner beast and becomes a savage.
Roger sees it and he gives in. Ralph is slightly tempted by the monster and sees it once with Jack. Jack sees it twice. The fact that Ralph sees it with Jack shows that Jack is the beast.
Piggy and Simon, the two who represent goodness never see or believe in the beast and are killed almost for that.
The three boys who go to try to see go up the mountain in the dark. Had they gone up during the light then they would have seen that it was no monster but a dead person. They would not have spread the claims of the beast and would have banished the beast from the minds of the boys. Had they done so then Jack would not have had the edge of fear to hold over his tribe. If he was unable to terrify them as much and he could not form a religion of beast worshiping than his power would have been less absolute. Instead of a failed society that had become a murderous pack led by a tyrannical "god-figure" they might have kept together. The fact that they went up in the dark symbolizes ignorance leading to fear since the beast is a symbol for fears. Had they gone up in the light, educated and ready, prepared and open minded, they would have dispelled these irrational fears and saved their world. They could have remained in the Garden of Eden with out Original Sin, the murder of the Sow stemming from Jack's fear based regime.