Theme Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies

They are lost and alone, no one around, just them, the ocean and a tropical paradise. With no civilization, no regulations, or even mild things like a place to sleep, the young boys will find find out what they must do to survive alone in the unknown. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the theme loss of innocence is clearly demonstrated throughout the book. The proper British boys were on a plane that crashed onto a tropical island. Without adults and the oldest boy being twelve, the boys must learn to survive themselves. Without civilization and authority to guide them, they turn to savagery and violence. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding portrays loss of innocence by exhibiting how people change when they realize what they

William Goldning’s Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel where literary techniques are utilized to convey the main ideas and themes of the novel. Two important central themes of the novel includes loss of civilization and innocense which tie into the concept of innate human evil. Loss of civilization is simply the transition from civilization to savagery; order to chaos. The concept of loss of innocense is a key concept to innate human evil because childhood innocense is disrupted as the group hunted animals and even their own. Through the use of literary techniques these ideas are seen in the passage where Simon confronts the “Lord of the Flies.”

to a feast and that is the night when Simon was killed by the tribe

Simon, for instance, battles with himself about the 'beast'. When the discussion about the beast goes on in chapter five, Simon is hesitant on explaining about the beast. From his line “maybe there is a beast” (pg. 89), he struggles to explain to everyone what he thought the beast really is. Simon knows that the beast is not corporeal, but rather an evil within humankind. His conflict within himself regarding the beast's identity moves the story when he ventures out to search for the beast. In result, he stumbles into the Lord of the Flies, who confirms his knowledge about the beast – that it is actually the evil within the boys. It also ends up in his death, when he wants to tell the boys about the 'real' beast. As for Piggy, he tries very hard to gain everyone's approval, especially Ralph's. His desire for approval is apparent since the first chapter, when he asked for Ralph's name and expects Ralph to ask his in return (pg. 11). But it is more apparent in the fourth chapter, when Piggy suggests to Ralph that they build a sundial (pg. 64). Ralph's reaction towards Piggy's idea was out of pity, but Piggy misinterpreted it as “friendliness” and “rejoiced” at Ralph's smile. Piggy, however, did not seek Jack's approval, as he always retaliated Jack's abusive behaviour towards him. Jack kept on bullying Piggy physically – punching him and broke his glasses in the fourth chapter – and verbally –

Within the novel innocence is progressively lost through the boys. The boys were placed in a situation where they had no other choice but to grow up, and grow up fast. These boys were put in a very traumatic situation and they had to learn on their own and from each other how to survive and almost create a thriving society all on their own. Slowly they learn that their needs to be a leader, but there are no adults to precede the role of authority. Therefore the children resume power and take the role of authority. All these things make the boys lose their innocence and become very violent. No one is completely innocent and everyone has the ability to turn violent, this is demonstrated in William

In the Lord of the Flies when the British school boys are sent away and their plane crashes they’re stranded on an island without an adult. This leads them to do horrible things to each other. These boys who were stranded, lost every sense of innocence they used to have and that island took it from them. Some terrible things that the boys did was murder each other and slaughter a defenseless mama pig.

No one would think kids could turn to cruelty, but in this book, you can see how human nature turns people against each other. Not all the boys turned to savages, but there were times when there actions were questionable. Take Ralph for example, he was probably one of the least barbaric of them all, yet he still joined in on the murder of Simon. While most boys were oblivious to their descent into savagery, people like Ralph realized this ongoing turn, “I’m frightened. Of us. I want to go home, Oh God, I want to go home” (Golding 157). The boys change into savagery was not gradual, and even some of the boys, such as Ralph or Simon, noticed this trend, and as young boys it frightened them to realize the fact that they were altering towards inhumanity. As well, the book represents that evil is in all of us. The Beast, which was the main source of evil in the book, was not real. It was only a figment of the boys’ imaginations. While the Beast wasn’t a physical thing it represented

Ralph and Jack themselves are used as symbols of leadership. “Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol." (149). The symbolism used in this quote shows how Jack is now seen as a leader figure, whereas Ralph is the actual leader. It also shows irony as well with Jack symbolically described as the leader of his civilization, while Ralph is really the leader of all of the group. In Chapter Nine, Simon resembles the beast. Simon was crawling in blood in an a effort to tell the others that the beast is harmless, and he is killed by Jack and his tribe, which is symbolized in their song and dance. Jack and his savages sang, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!" (152) The fear and confusion brought upon the boys led them to kill Simon, showing the act of savagery as a direct reaction to the negativity in their environment. This fear and confusion brought to the island, caused heinous acts to be done by the once civilized - all caused by the spread of

Jack and his tribe are very persistent with killing the beast and they get their wish when “Jack leapt on to the sand. ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’… a circling movement developed… The circle became a horseshoe… The beast stumbled into the horseshoe ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’… Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. ” (Golding 151-152). Jack and his tribe have begun their frenzied dance they see a figure stumbling out from the forest. However, instead of stopping to see what it was the boys immediately think it is the beast, so they let it into the circle and rip it apart with their teeth and “Claws”. One thing they do not know was that was Simon trying to notify them that the beast was a corpse near the top of the mountain. All Simon was trying to announce to everyone that no one has to be afraid as a way to help everyone on the island. Nevertheless, Jack helps the other boys tear Simon apart and does nothing else about it. Jack does not even care that he just killed a boy. In fact, he never talks about Simon for the rest of the

"...I live with regrets - the bittersweet loss of innocence - the red track of the moon upon the lake - the inability to return and do it again..." (John Geddes) This quote illustrates how the boys in the Lord of the Flies by William Goulding would feel leaving, they will live with regret for what happened on the island for the rest of their lives. For on the island is where they lose their innocence at such early ages. In the Lord of the Flies, one of the major themes is the loss of innocence. The boy’s loss of innocence is displayed throughout the novel as they shed their clothes, through the killing of the pigs, and kill Simon and Piggy.

Simon is the first to realize that the beast is “only us” and tries to give voice to “mankind’s essential illness” (Doc F). Later, when Simon finds the dead parachutist, he attempts to tell the others the “Beast is only human.” (Doc E). Rather than listening to his words, Simon is brutally attacked and killed by them: “There were no words and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Doc F). Ironically, Simon, the sensitive boy with the goal to tell of man's violent nature, is instead mistaken for the beast. Therefore he is murdered by the true, human beast: the boys with “teeth and claws.”

When reflecting on one’s childhood, one either views it as a blissful time in their life, or a hellish society in which they suffered greatly. While both scenarios are very different from one another, it is arguable that both parties experienced a loss of innocence in this time frame.The loss of innocence is something which happens to everybody, sooner or later. Growing up in society, children are exposed to many different concepts. While these concepts play an important role in everyday life, some of them may end up destroying a child’s innocence. Dealing with other people and communicating properly play an essential role in everyday life, but people with malice on their agenda may end up destroying the innocence of others. Even something as simple as learning the countermeasures to deal with the malevolence of others causes a person to lose their innocence. In order to be successful in everyday life, it is necessary for one to confront the harsh reality of our world, which would destroy their innocence.

Jack is an example of a loss of innocence because he goes from wanting rules to a level of complete savagery. Jack has the realization that killing leads to fear which brings power, so he must kill to reach the top. Once Jack paints his face and looks upon his reflection in a pool of water, he is changed, “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (page 64). Jack’s excitement seems to be an indescribable possession. The intensity for the hunt represents how they are falling further. “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife…Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (page 135). These children seem to represent that they have been brought up in innocent homes, so the killing and bloodlust is new for them. All of these specific events can show that Jack’s change in innocence

"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, leaped onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws" (Golding 153). Simon's death was an excellent representative of unfairness since no one treated him fairly or nicely throughout the novel. Simon was the most mature one on the island out of all the rest of the boy. When the boys killed him Simon was trying to inform them that the so-called "beast" they saw was just a parachute man. Attacking Simon was unfair since he was trying to help the boys, but they are all savages and do not think before they attempt

Through all the fear and savagery, one boy saw through it all, and began to speculate as to what the beast really was, this boy being Simon. As the idea of a beast arises, the tribe becomes chaotic. Simon however, a persona of neither savagery nor civilisation, questions the existence of a beast. “Maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us” as quoted by Simon, shows that he believes that there is a beast, but not the same beast everyone else has in mind. Instead, Simon, unaffected by the fear, believes that the beast is within each boy. Later on in the book, Simon’s speculations are proven true, as in a vision, he sees the Lord of the Flies who confirms that "You knew, didn 't you? I 'm part of you? Close, close, close! I 'm the reason why it 's no go? Why things are what they are?"(Page 143). Simon also discovers the supposed beast is just a human being. Certain of this, Simon runs towards the tribe in order to tell them the truth. Fearful however, the boys see him as the beast and kill him and their only way of destroying the beast. From this, it is evident that the boys could not destroy the “beast” as they had killed the only boy who knew the truth.