Innocence In Lord Of The Flies Essay
Not only do the children in Lord of the Flies and “Pilgrims” lose their innocence because they do not have authoritative figures in their life, but this eventually causes and leads to tragedy in both situations. In Lord of the Flies the majority of the boys’ loss of innocence transitions into the brutal savagery demonstrated, causing two deaths, which stems from the lack of adult authority. As the boys’ belief in the beast gradually increases, their innocence decreases. This descent from innocence ends with a catastrophic tragedy: the murder of Simon. Even Piggy and Ralph fall prey to this. The boys are described as, “Piggy and Ralph, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society (...) ‘Kill the beast! Cut
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his throat! Spill his blood!’ Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ The beast was on its knees in the center its arms folded over its face” (152-153).
Once their innocence is lost, the savagery that stems from the loss of their innocence takes over everyone, even Piggy and Ralph, the rational and logical ones on the island. Piggy and Ralph being “eager to take a place in the demented but partly secure society” offers an insight into what the other boys are thinking and feeling. They are excited in a sick way, about to kill a living thing, something no child with innocence would be excited over. Even the description of Simon changes from saying “Simon” to “the beast,” thus this scene is being described by the boys, expressing how detrimental the loss of innocence is for the boys, as they are so blind to their actions without their innocence, they really believe Simon is the beast, thus allowing them to kill Simon. Roger is a character most memorable for throwing stones at Henry. However, every time Roger throws stones at Henry, he “throws it to miss” which indicates he still had innocence left in him at this moment. However, in the second death, Piggy’s, Roger’s extreme loss of innocence is conspicuous. He is described as, "Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever"
(180). The boys no longer have an ounce of innocence in them and therefore cannot differentiate right from wrong nor control their actions, leading to the murder of Piggy. The author’s choice in the words “delirious abandonment” show the extremity of the savagery that has taken over, not only Roger, but the majority of the boys on the island. The sins they have committed on the island due to the loss of innocence has overwhelmed them and they are no longer the innocent boys they were when they first landed on this island. Similarly, the loss of innocence in the children in Pilgrims causes destructive effects as well. The childrens’ forced transformation due to the situation they are in is evident in the beginning when the children are playing in the treehouse. Ella describes it as, "Apparently this was the hostage room. Four kids stood in the semidarkness, each bound at the ankles and wrists with vine handcuffs” (9). Instead of playing a normal game like tag or hide and go seek, they are playing “hostages.” The author’s choice to make this the game the children play and having the “hostages” be killed demonstrate how far the children are from being innocent, and the eerie similarities between the game and their parents is astonishing and expresses how much the children understand about the truth of the situation they are in. It seems as though the children are desperately trying to be children by playing the game, however due to their loss of innocence, there is just no way for them to regain it again without their parents’ presence coming back into their lives. Not only do they play a game of “jail” but they end up “killing” Ella and Benjamin in the game as well. The scene is described as, "'Kill those kids, Peter,' the girl said, pointing at Benjamin and Ella. He poked them in the back and moved them toward the tree trunk. Ella and Benjamin climbed until they had reached a narrow platform, and then Peter pushed them to the edge, shoved them from behind, and they stumbled forward into space" (10). Likewise, in “Pilgrims” there was also a death, the death of Clarie. After she falls off the tree house, Peter says, “‘Get some leaves and stuff. We have to cover her.’ Ella would not move. Benjamin pulled away and wandered across the lawn, pulling up handfuls of grass. She watched the children pick up twigs, leaves, anything they could find. They scattered everything they found over Clarie’s body. In five minutes they had covered her entirely” (20). When the author describes the children to “pick up twigs, leaves, anything they could find” and “scattered everything they found over Clarie’s body” it expresses that death is no longer something that affects the children due to the children’s loss of innocence as the initial reaction is not to alert an adult, but rather to immediately follow Peter’s instructions to cover her body, something no child with their innocence would willingly help to do. Unlike the boys in Lord of the Flies, the children in “Pilgrims” seem to comprehend death with more ease since they have already been acquainted with death due to their parents’ illness. Peter knows what they have done is terrible, and therefore he threatens them to not tell anyone about what occurred. He even threatens to kill whoever tells, something that seems to not be an empty threat, as he caused Clarie to fall off the treehouse and die. The loss of innocence through the lack of adult influence in the children’s lives leads to horrific things, one being the last thing a child would ever do: kill. Yet, in both stories, both children commit these terrible and detrimental acts. In conclusion, all things truly malicious must start from an innocence, especially the innocence of children. Goulding and Orringer have proven through the stories of Lord of the Flies and “Pilgrims” that if a child must grow up without a parent in their life, this will cause them to mature much faster because they must take on the responsibilities of the parent. This will lead to detrimental effects, as seen with the deaths of Piggy, Simon, and Clarie. In the world today, the influence parents have in their children’s lives is overlooked everyday and only when their presence is gone is when their importance is realized.
his throat! Spill his blood!’ Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ The beast was on its knees in the center its arms folded over its face” (152-153).
Once their innocence is lost, the savagery that stems from the loss of their innocence takes over everyone, even Piggy and Ralph, the rational and logical ones on the island. Piggy and Ralph being “eager to take a place in the demented but partly secure society” offers an insight into what the other boys are thinking and feeling. They are excited in a sick way, about to kill a living thing, something no child with innocence would be excited over. Even the description of Simon changes from saying “Simon” to “the beast,” thus this scene is being described by the boys, expressing how detrimental the loss of innocence is for the boys, as they are so blind to their actions without their innocence, they really believe Simon is the beast, thus allowing them to kill Simon. Roger is a character most memorable for throwing stones at Henry. However, every time Roger throws stones at Henry, he “throws it to miss” which indicates he still had innocence left in him at this moment. However, in the second death, Piggy’s, Roger’s extreme loss of innocence is conspicuous. He is described as, "Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever"
(180). The boys no longer have an ounce of innocence in them and therefore cannot differentiate right from wrong nor control their actions, leading to the murder of Piggy. The author’s choice in the words “delirious abandonment” show the extremity of the savagery that has taken over, not only Roger, but the majority of the boys on the island. The sins they have committed on the island due to the loss of innocence has overwhelmed them and they are no longer the innocent boys they were when they first landed on this island. Similarly, the loss of innocence in the children in Pilgrims causes destructive effects as well. The childrens’ forced transformation due to the situation they are in is evident in the beginning when the children are playing in the treehouse. Ella describes it as, "Apparently this was the hostage room. Four kids stood in the semidarkness, each bound at the ankles and wrists with vine handcuffs” (9). Instead of playing a normal game like tag or hide and go seek, they are playing “hostages.” The author’s choice to make this the game the children play and having the “hostages” be killed demonstrate how far the children are from being innocent, and the eerie similarities between the game and their parents is astonishing and expresses how much the children understand about the truth of the situation they are in. It seems as though the children are desperately trying to be children by playing the game, however due to their loss of innocence, there is just no way for them to regain it again without their parents’ presence coming back into their lives. Not only do they play a game of “jail” but they end up “killing” Ella and Benjamin in the game as well. The scene is described as, "'Kill those kids, Peter,' the girl said, pointing at Benjamin and Ella. He poked them in the back and moved them toward the tree trunk. Ella and Benjamin climbed until they had reached a narrow platform, and then Peter pushed them to the edge, shoved them from behind, and they stumbled forward into space" (10). Likewise, in “Pilgrims” there was also a death, the death of Clarie. After she falls off the tree house, Peter says, “‘Get some leaves and stuff. We have to cover her.’ Ella would not move. Benjamin pulled away and wandered across the lawn, pulling up handfuls of grass. She watched the children pick up twigs, leaves, anything they could find. They scattered everything they found over Clarie’s body. In five minutes they had covered her entirely” (20). When the author describes the children to “pick up twigs, leaves, anything they could find” and “scattered everything they found over Clarie’s body” it expresses that death is no longer something that affects the children due to the children’s loss of innocence as the initial reaction is not to alert an adult, but rather to immediately follow Peter’s instructions to cover her body, something no child with their innocence would willingly help to do. Unlike the boys in Lord of the Flies, the children in “Pilgrims” seem to comprehend death with more ease since they have already been acquainted with death due to their parents’ illness. Peter knows what they have done is terrible, and therefore he threatens them to not tell anyone about what occurred. He even threatens to kill whoever tells, something that seems to not be an empty threat, as he caused Clarie to fall off the treehouse and die. The loss of innocence through the lack of adult influence in the children’s lives leads to horrific things, one being the last thing a child would ever do: kill. Yet, in both stories, both children commit these terrible and detrimental acts. In conclusion, all things truly malicious must start from an innocence, especially the innocence of children. Goulding and Orringer have proven through the stories of Lord of the Flies and “Pilgrims” that if a child must grow up without a parent in their life, this will cause them to mature much faster because they must take on the responsibilities of the parent. This will lead to detrimental effects, as seen with the deaths of Piggy, Simon, and Clarie. In the world today, the influence parents have in their children’s lives is overlooked everyday and only when their presence is gone is when their importance is realized.