Innocence In Lord Of The Flies: Analytical Essay

Odysseus Kapadoukakis
Mrs. Chutkos
ENG3U1
October 6th
Lord of The Flies: Analytical Essay

Innocence doesn’t last

The loss of innocence has been portrayed throughout literature, with explicit examples through characters. This theme can be found in many people’s lives. For instance, in William Golding’s, “The Lord of The Flies”, many of the boys strive for survival and rescue throughout the novel, whereas other characters; Jack for instance, develops into a devilish predator and savage. Consequently, his adaptation to the dark evil of the island rubs off on many others and grants him followers. Ralph, being one of the main characters in the novel, also ends up having a change for the worse throughout the course of the story, and in crystal
clear sight, his transformation is astonishing. A loss of innocence is common in the book and can relate to most of the characters.
To begin, upon arrival to the island, the boys not only all agree that their rescue is paramount, but also that a leader/chief to guide the group would be in their best interest.
Jack’s feelings toward the situation are in parallel to everyone else’s, but only due to the fact that he believes he will be elected chief. Infuriated with the decision of Ralph being the final decision, he becomes very happy when appointed leader of the hunters. This reveals Jack’s feelings about being in charge and his strive for leadership. With this, Golding shows Jack’s quick transformation as he ends up being appointed to the leader of the hunters. His decision later to go and hunt for a pig for the group in chapter 4 (69), demonstrates his fast need for the spill of blood in a less than innocent fashion compared to his previous ordinary lifestyle. Not only this, but his future endeavors result in a desperate attempt on Ralph’s life by setting the island on fire, demonstrating how far he was willing to go to achieve what he wanted (199). The group’s idea and attempt to be “civil” and “humane” are nowhere to be found by the end of the
novel.
At a closer look into Golding’s “The Lord of The Flies”, It’s shown that Ralph can also be recognized as a soul on the island that is no longer innocent.
A positive and well-rounded boy is the type that was portrayed to the reader when talking about Ralph. The so-called “beast”, brings many inconvenient conversations and thoughts in the boys’ minds. The littluns are a main source of this problem, spreading rumors about things they haven’t actually seen. This big confusion is even too much for ralph to handle and is the reason Simon ends up being killed. That well-rounded boy changed into a careless savage and it costs Simon his life. Ralph being one of the only characters to remain as civil as possible for the longest time ends up turning for the worst and losing his innocence. Ralph pushes for the caring of the groups overall rescue but many people start to forget to care. The darkness and savagery that is starting to form in Ralph can be seen by Piggy’s constant worry and counseling for him. The chant from Chapter 4 (69); “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” Explicitly shows how savage the boys are becoming. This chant is used once again when Simon is being killed, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” Ralph being a part of these events shows how his loss of innocence becomes a big part/issue of the
book.
The consequences of the island the boy’s crash on are shown in a very repetitive fashion. Frequent fighting about speaking rights and duties on getting them rescued just escalates everybody’s impatience for one another. Although these boys are very young, death is a very big part of the book. The first boy to disappear wasn’t that big of a deal to the boys and didn’t have much of an emotional affect on anyone except Piggy. Once Simon was killed it was evident that there was no turning back to the innocent boys the group once was. Then the inhumane traits of the group started to show as Roger pushed the boulder at Piggy, hitting him off a ledge and killing him. This savage act was the first time some one on the island killed another person with full intention of doing so. This was a truly disturbing, textual image. Many of the boys’ encounters with problems on the island were at the fault of Jack and his hunters. It was the hunter’s jobs to keep the signal fire lit which they did not do. Jacks negativity towards the group rubbed off in a very pessimistic manner, making life for Ralph and Piggy harder than it already was.
The prominence of the loss of innocence throughout the novel grows greater and greater. The savagery between all of the boys progresses into a dark life that none of them thought they would ever have to deal with. The constant bickering and fighting between all of the boys shows how fast they turned away from their old lives and begin a bran new one. Kicking it off with jack and soon later progressing to the hunters and the rest of the group. Ralph following along, truly turning the whole island into a world with evil boys running around, killing each other in a satanic appearance.

Works Cited
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Lord of the Flies." Shmoop.com . Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Novel.