Loss Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies

James McBride in the Color of Water and William Golding in The Lord of the Flies use the the techniques of societal conflict and character development to convey to readers that adversity helps one grow.

Geoffrey S. Fletcher, an American screenwriter and film director, has always been “...interested in how innocence fares when it collides with hard reality” (Geoffrey S. Fletcher Quotes). If Fletcher wishes to examine this change of unknowingness he is interested in, the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, perfectly depicts how the purity of a child changes when that child is forced to face reality. Lord of the Flies is a novel about how lack of control can turn the purest beings on earth, children, into ruthless savages. A plane strands a group of boys on a deserted island, and readers observe the characters losing their incorruptibility while trying to form a coherent civilization. Advancement in maturation is shown in the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, through the loss of innocence in Jack, Piggy, and Ralph.

Life is troublesome on its own, but when your loved ones betray you it gets worse. Betrayal is an evident theme in Lord of the Flies, Macbeth and Fifth Business. The betrayers typically are your friends, your family and most often yourself.

A quote by Benjamin Disraeli said, “ Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” This quote illustrates how everyone goes through changes in their life, no matter their situation. This quote is clearly shown in Lord of the Flies as all the characters changed throughout the story. In Golding’s story several boys crash land on an island and are stuck without any adults. Throughout the story the boys are faced with many obstacles that they must overcome and they often change trying to overcome those challenges. One character that had many changes was Jack, which include being a choir boy leader to being a tribe leader, growing more dangerous and aggressive as the story went on, and having the urge to hunt more.

In Lord of the Flies, the war paint represents the savagery that has taken over the kids. Towards the beginning of the novel Ralph said, “ ‘Well, we won’t be painted,’ said Ralph, “because we aren’t savages’ ”(Golding 66). This quote shows that at first the children had control over their savageness in them. When the the children were first introduced to the island they still had a lot of their manners, that controlled their savageness. Once they were introduced to stuff like hunting, their inner savage slowly arised. As the novel progressed, Jack looked at himself with the paint on and the author said, “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger”(Golding 191). As soon as Jack looked at himself his inner savageness

Think Tarzan: A little boy who is raised in the jungle meets a civilized girl and they fall in love. Now think what would actually happen in that situation. Lets just say it would not end well. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, which takes place on an uninhabited island during the 1930s, tells the story of a group of boys whose plane crashed and left them stranded. After power goes to their heads, they rely on their primal instincts as things go south. After their rescue, the boys will most likely be scarred for life. Even though they all went through traumatic experiences, they are all going to cope differently based on their connection to society throughout the experience.

Innocence is only shown unless yourself or someone else tarnishes it. Those who tarnish other’s innocence still show innocence in a way. Those people are innocent to the idea that the innocence is being taken away and they are to blame. In Lord of The Flies, Jack tarnishes the boy’s innocence by exposing them to savagery. William Golding proves that without rules to live by, people will eventually become savage.

Lord of the Flies, a literature piece by William Golding, takes place on an abandoned island where English boys are left to fend for themselves after a plane crash. The symbol of face paint is present throughout the novel, representing how people assume different personalities by hiding their insecurities. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, the concealment of the face paint represents how Jack disguises his insecurities. He discovers the concept of face paint after trying to come up with ideas to improve his hunting abilities. Soon after putting it on, Jack “looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger”(Golding 63). The use of the words “awesome” and “astonishment” by Golding imply something positive, which leads

“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.

Maturity is subjective. Maturity has no definition, since everyone views maturity in different ways. Some view maturity as putting other's dire needs before one’s minor needs. Some say maturity is a coming of age, where one finds one’s morals, or what one believe to be right and wrong. One of the most common definitions for maturity is the ability to adapt to the environment one is given. Sometimes, immaturity can be evident in adults. So, what is the thread which ties all of these ideas together?

Due to the lack of adult supervision Golding shows us that children tend to lose track of their innocence. Without any source of adult supervision on the island the children are left with no other option but to look for leadership and authority from another child. For instance, in Lord of the Flies the boys choose Ralph to become chief (Golding 22). Throughout time on the island the children begin to become more and more violent towards one another. Without authority from an adult the children become dangerous and begin to be a threat to each

Everyone will face evil at some point in their lives, but the way the evil is embraced or deflected will differ among every man. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, symbolism is used to communicate the theme of Understanding the Inhumanity/Inherent Evil of Man as represented through the double ended spear, the fire, and the Lord of the Flies. The spear represents the evil inside of humankind and the perception that killing and hurting each other out of anger is acceptable. Fire symbolizes the evil act of stealing to achieve a human wants. Lastly, the Lord of the Flies symbolizes the Inherent Evil of Man through demonstrating that a boy understood that the evil is within them instead of around them, and is not something that could be killed

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.

Many children dream of a place where they can run wild and not have any adult supervision, but few consider the consequences like their inner evil coming out and their humanity changing. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, symbolism is a key part in communicating the theme of The Inhumanity/Inherent Evil of Man through the conch, the fire, and the Lord of the Flies. The fires symbolism of evil can be shown by the boys going wild at the sight of it and starting their wild chant, often hurting people. The lord of the flies holds symbolic power because it represents the boy's inner evil, and that they are the real “beasts.” The conch is seen through the boy's destruction of the island and each other throughout the book.

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies does not simply describe the life of a group of children stranded on an island, but rather it is a representation of the qualities of human nature. As the novel progresses, the children grow deeper into savagery, performing actions that would be often criticised in society. The absence of law and order devolves even those that attempt to recreate it, like Ralph and Piggy. In this novel, Golding uses children to answer the question whether or not humans are born inanimately good or truly evil. Golding answers this question by symbolising the main characters and their descent into savagery. He uses Ralph and Piggy to describe the well-educated that attempt to grasp civilisation, but ultimately fail to deliver. His symbol of Roger as an ordinary person that breaks loose of the chains of society once disconnected from it. Finally, the nature of Jack is a depiction of the power hungry that will do anything to lead.