Although being on the island without adult supervision is initially an awfully big adventure for the boys, delight soon turns to fear. Here they are, stuck on a remote desert island without any immediate prospect of being rescued. Under the circumstances, it's no wonder that fear takes over. But like a lot of fear, it's completely misplaced. There is no beast on the island, but because the boys are young, immature, and superstitious, they genuinely believe that there is one.
Despite Jack's initial skepticism, he encourages the other boys to believe in the existence of the beast as he knows that this will consolidate his power over them. If the boys are in the constant grip of fear, then they'll look to Jack to be their savior, knowing just how wild and reckless he is. As the old saying goes, it takes a thief to catch a thief; and most of the boys on the island, in looking to Jack for protection, believe that they need a beast to catch a beast.
In Chapter 5, Ralph holds an assembly to discuss why the boys are not following through with the tasks agreed upon during the meetings. He then begins to address the existence of the "beast." Ralph, Jack, and Piggy firmly believe that the "beast" does not exist. Then, a littlun named Percival mentions that the "beast" lives and comes out of the sea. Percival does not go into detail about the "beast" because he passes out after commenting that it lives in the sea. The boys then begin to argue about its identity before Jack and his hunters decide to leave the meeting. While Piggy attempts to rationalize its existence by thinking scientifically, only Simon understands its true identity. The "beast" in the water is only a figment of the boys' imagination. It represents the inner fears that they feel on the uninhabited island at night. The true nature of the "beast" is the inherent wickedness in each individual. It is a not a tangible being, but rather a symbol of their inherent evil.
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