Difference Between Littluns And Bigguns

A group of adolescent boys was left stranded on an island with no adults and no way of getting help. Their only chance of survival was to learn how to use the jungle to their advantage, and keep a constant signal fire in hopes that someone in the war would rescue them. These brave kids had their own way of handling such an intense situation. The boys split into two groups: the ‘littluns’ and the ‘bigguns’. The littluns were the younger boys who mainly remained nameless and were too young to assist much in the group’s survival. The bigguns were the older boys who led the group and took care of everyone. The littluns and bigguns on the island had very different responsibilities and knowledge of what was happening, yet both lost their innocence
The littluns only needed to worry about feeding themselves and finding things to do during the day. The young boys mainly played amongst themselves and preferred not to get involved with the bigguns unless the conch called them. Due to their age, they did not have to support the group in many ways. Their innocence and lack of responsibility is shown by, “Apart from food and sleep, they found time for play, aimless and trivial, in the white sand by the bright water” (Golding 59). On the contrary, the bigguns carried the weight of the group. The bigguns had many responsibilities, such as building shelters, hunting for the group, keeping the fire going, and trying to maintain order. They also helped the younger boys survive, for example when Simon picked higher berries for the littluns since they could not reach. The dynamics of the group depended a lot on their responsibilities, or lack
Both groups lost this trait, but in vastly different amounts. The littluns lost their innocence slowly and amongst their own clique. They did not lose it to the extent that the bigguns did though. The bigguns quickly lost their innocence when they made their first kill and then continued losing it during other events, such as when the boys murdered Simon. As the book progressed, the boys became more and more savage and switched from only eating berries, to killing animals, to killing people. Some examples of this are, “Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph” (Golding 181) and “He raised his spear, snarled a little, and waited” (Golding 194). Evil is human nature, and the boys lost their innocence as evil became