Loss Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Ella
Mrs.Cota
Freshman English 2
Jan 6, 2023

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a young group of British boys whose plane crashes on an island. No adults survive leaving them to fend for themselves. The boys first try to start a signal fire and create a sense of order but become more interested in either hunting, bathing, or exploring. Over time the boys begin to lose innocence and grow increasingly savage. Eventually, it becomes unclear for the boys to know what's right from wrong. As demonstrated in Lord of the Flies, due to our evil nature, structure is needed to uphold a decent society. Although the book was published in 1954 its message still resonates with the 21st century in many ways.
In Lord of the Flies, the fact that

Jack transforms from a strong-willed and self-absorbed boy to a bloodthirsty power hungry creature. Jack at the beginning could hardly bring himself to kill but later became lusted to hunting and his attention couldn't be fixated on anything else. Society's structure once served as a protective wall. The wall was blocking Jack from a different side of himself which would only be brought to light if he decided to leave behind what he once knew. In the world, the boys were molded into what society approved of. On the island, there was no barrier protecting them from the darker side of themselves and no mold they needed to fit hence this led to the loss of civilization. On page _139 Jack leads his followers chanting “kill the beast slit his throat, spill his blood do him in!” without a second thought they brutally attack the “Beast” because they couldn't help but give in to their bloodthirsty desires. The beast was really Simon, a shy kind boy who found unusual comfort within the depths of the island.

Ralph is the character who helps reveal how orderly structure could have been used to their advantage. From the beginning, Ralph expressed the importance of working together in order to get off the island. Ralph held assemblies and tried to create signal fires. On page 38 “Ralph shouted'' there was a ship '' but you were hunting weren't you ``'' We needed meat said Jack”. In order to survive properly the boys had to come to a consensus and form society. They lost sight of what was important, which was not just living on the island nor leaving it but working together well enough to do so properly. Simon and Piggy died but unlike in modern 21st society, their murders were not punished since their society lacked basic laws. Without laws, the boys eventually could not tell right from wrong even if they could they didn't need to for there were no punishments for wrongdoing. When they were finally rescued ironically it was due to their savagery a large fire signaled a ship. The naval officer jokes “what's going on, are you guys having a war, any dead bodies?” “Just two a young boy said.” Some may argue that remaining calm and civilized would not lead to rescue. The question is was it worth becoming slaves of their own blood lust, killing, manipulating, and turning against each other? One way of looking at it is that they could never truly be rescued if they could never truly escape the darkness that overtook them. . Laws formed by