Lord Of The Flies Archetypes

Unavoidable Darkness Darkness prevails in all humans. It is an inevitable trait that people choose to let shine or keep hidden. The dark is usually a private matter, however, when in frightening or dire situations, the darkness overtakes others. The dark is not only shown through real life humans, but also in imaginary literary characters and novels as well. In The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses archetypes such as the hero, the quest, and loss of innocence to bring out one of the novel’s many themes, the idea of civilization versus savagery. The hero archetype throughout the novel represents Ralph, the protagonist and the leader. Ralph is chosen by Piggy to become the leader of the island and the boys. He does not necessarily want
The main focus of most of the book and of Ralph has been to leave the island and be saved by outside people. All of these boys from ages six to twelve are stranded on the island and will not survive for a long time without rescuers. None of the boys have any idea how to survive because they are all so young and have had parents who provide all that they need. The boys do not realize how much they need to work in order to stay strong and alive. All of the boys need to be rescued because if not they will sink and eventually die. The rescue fire is what they need to obtain the help that will save their lives. Ralph is so focused on the fire throughout the novel that it becomes a huge quest that needs to be managed by lots of people. The fire is the boys’ last hope and needs to be maintained at all times. Even though the fire is the group’s last shot, most of the boys neglect the fire because they do not realize how much the fire could save them. The younger and some older boys are more concerned with food and killing animals than being saved. Almost all of the people are sick of Ralph’s rules about keeping up the fire that they flee to another side of the island with Jack where they do not have to worry about rules and roles in the government Ralph tries to make (Golding). Ralph needs the fire because he is searching for his future and something beyond a life on an island with pigs
The loss on innocence means losing the thoughts that keep a person whole and clean and making them into a beast they had no idea lives in them. When all of the boys first arrive on the island, all is well. There are no fights and the boys are still young, innocent children, however, as the novel progresses the boys become more and more out of control. It is not until Piggy’s death do they boys realize that everyone has gone rouge and all is not well. Piggy dies because he tries to explain to the other why the fire and rules are so important. As Piggy is trying to do that, Roger shoves a rock down the mountain side that knocks Piggy off the mountain side to his death below on a bed of rocks (Golding). The boys have allowed the beast inside of each and every one of them to take over and shine through. The clan does not care that they are killing innocent people and causing mass chaos, all they want to do is be violent and put up a fight. The group is no longer a clan that wants to thrive and live in harmony, now they are out for themselves and own wishes. The clan does not care about each other and would kill in heartbeat because it is fun to them and the beast inside of them has taken over. No one, not even Ralph has their innocence anymore. Everyone has all witnessed people being killed and pure evil. All of the group has seen and been to the dark side,