The books “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, and “Peter Pan” by J.M. Barrie, have similar characteristics that will be compared and contrasted in this paper. “Lord of the Flies” takes place on a deserted island where about 20 British boys have crashed during World War II. Peter Pan, dissimilarly, tells the tale of a boy who doesn’t want to grow up and lives on the magical island of Neverland with the Lost Boys. Both Lord of the Flies and Peter Pan have common themes, symbols, and characters, but, at the same time, differ. Lord of the Flies and Peter Pan share quite a few qualities. They have themes that are in common, but also have some that are completely unrelated. The symbolisms in each book also play a large role. Physical symbols along with symbols that aren’t tangible will be discussed. The last subject that will be presented will be the personalities of characters. People such as Ralph, Jack, Peter, Wendy, the Lost Boys, and the Island Boys will be compared and contrasted. The first of all of these points to be addressed will be the themes.
In both stories, there are evident themes presented; some of which they have in common. One major theme that is found in both Lord of the Flies and Peter Pan is the innocence of childhood. Though, there is a difference in the way they address their innocence. The Island Boys outgrow their innocence. They aren’t helpless children any longer; they embrace being unsupervised and use it as their right to adulthood. The Lost Boys in Peter Pan strive to maintain their childhood for as long as they can. They don’t want to grow up, nor do they want to act any older than they are. Even though innocence is a common theme, the two groups of boys diverge in their role playing.
The second coinciding theme Lord of the Flies and Peter Pan have is battles from within. In Lord of the Flies, Jack struggles with the idea of