'Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty...' I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each "guilty" was a separate stab between them… (Lee 211). Jem and Scout Finch from the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Arnold Spirit (Junior) from The Absolutely True Diary by Sherman Alexie all show that innocence is lost when compassion is found.
In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys land on an uninhabited island in the midst of an unnamed war. Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys, insists on the boys following rules in the beginning and still inhabits the mindset that there are consequences and rewards for actions. Jack attempts to be leader but Ralph, a fair-haired 12 year old boy, wins the vote. Jack makes it his job to hunt and get meat for the rest of the boys. Jack becomes so invested in the hunt that he neglects the fire and ruins their chance to get home because a ship was on the horizon. Overtime Jack seems to become less interested in actually getting meat for the boys and more interested in the hunt itself. In the end Jack breaks away from Ralph’s
The boys were running as fast as they could to keep up with the pig they hit with the spear. They all haven’t had meat in days and they were craving it, they were losing their innocence and becoming savages. This is one thing in the book, Lord of the Flies, that shows a loss of innocence. This is a common theme throughout this book, a loss of innocence. Some examples of this are the killing of Piggy, the hunts, the actions of the tribe, and just Jack in general. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses foreshadowing, symbolism, and characterization to show the book has a theme of the boy’s loss of innocence.
The fall of man on the uninhabited, peaceful, and pure island represents how man is inevitably entropic and anthropocentric. Man is centered on humankind being the most important element of existence which is a threat to the surrounding nature. Jack and his team symbolize the arrogance of man and "mankind 's essential illness," which is the evil inside of us. Hence the creation of anarchy where the boys have the temptation to conquer everything. "Roger ran round the heap, prodding with his spear...The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her(120)," the boys have conquered nature after killing the sow and represents the terror man is going to bring nature . However, there are also signs of nature cleansing the boys’ terror on the island. “The line of his cheek silvered and the turn
With the outbreak of World War II in Europe, a group of British schoolboys decide to leave their homes and board a plane to safely evacuate the area. Unfortunately, their plane is shot down. The young boys become stranded on an uninhabited island with a “tangible” fear of a “beast.” This fear distracts the boys from their main priority of building a signal fire in hopes of being rescued from the island. The existence of the “beast” allows the boys to obsess with killing this creature and increases their level of savagery. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the decline of civilization in their society leads Jack, Roger, and the hunters to develop an inner savage and a willingness to kill.
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? (79)”, this quote is from the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Which is about a group of young boys that are marooned on an island for quite some time and have to make their own society. Ralph steps up as the leader of the boys but later on in the book, the position is taken by Jack which turns chaotic. The chaos leads to many problems within the group of boys. In the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, it is shown that individuals make up society, Jack’s tribe shows this by controlling the boys with his beliefs, and making up his own rules that break the initial ones, although, the opposing side may say that society shapes the individuals.
“You would, would you? Fatty!’ Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head.” This is just one of the many instances cruelty has played a crucial role in the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Peppered with symbolism and motifs, cruelty proves to be the most essential to major themes. Cruelty has a multitude of functions critical to developing themes, ranging from motivation to evolution of characters.
George R.R. Martin once said, “There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” William Golding demonstrates that every person has savagery inside of him in his novel, Lord of the Flies. In this novel, Golding shows us that civilization is lost and savagery begins when the urge to kill takes hold of us. William Golding’s character development of Jack and motif of weapons help develop his point.
The schoolboys were in another frenzy to hunt down Ralph. Ralph knows there is no going back to how they were. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true , wise friend Piggy” (Golding 202). Once Ralph was found by the naval officer, he knew that the schoolboys innocence was gone. He knew that Piggy would never come back, and that all of this could've been avoided. All of the boys life have fallen apart, and lives have been taken. The school boys, are not school boys anymore.
The loss of innocence occurs throughout the entire novel. For example, Allies death. Holden’s brother Allie is an innocent young boy that unfairly loses his life. Holden is deeply affected by this as he states, “I broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, just for the
In Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, there are several themes expressed through the boys from the beginning to the end. The main theme conveys that man is inherently evil. This can be understood from most aspects of the book. Golding conveys that man is inherently evil through the boys need to undermine each other and the loss of morality in their decent to chaos.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the head of the pig becomes an ongoing and important symbol. When Jack goes hunting, he is able to kill a mother pig. He cuts off its head, places it on a stick and the pig's head becomes an offering for the beast.
A world war takes place as a group of boys get stranded on an island. As the boys try to escape the war, it follows them onto the island in the form of a never ending conflict with how to survive. As the boys become engaged in this war they lose their innocence. In the Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, loss of innocence plays a big role in the outcome of the book. Loss of innocence is ultimately what leads to the war which takes place on the once “good island” (Golding 34). In the Lord of the Flies the boys lose their innocence in exchange for savagery or for maturity because of the attitudes towards killing animals and people.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding attempts to compare and contrast two opposite strategies of control. Golding portrays that while Ralph and Piggy’s government may have been a morally sound solution, the boys chaos is too strong to be controlled by a democracy. It must be controlled by a feared dictator. While the idea of democracy, represented by the conch, is a pure concept and can provide an equal opportunity for all of the boys on the island, the animalistic need for power and chaos that controls the boys can only be reined in by a powerful dictatorship.
Is mankind inherently evil? Perhaps children aren’t actually innocent. Nature versus nurture has been a discussion for years whether we develop our personalities from where we grow up or if we are born the way we are. Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, illustrated the theme of loss of innocence; a matter on youth having to quell life’s reality. The effects of the island the novel takes place in posts a violent demeanor on the boys stranded on it. Golding uses the symbolism of uncertainty, killing, and the beast to convey the theme.