The Theme Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies

Innocence is the lack of guilt from any crime or wrong doing. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, the theme of a lack of innocence is portrayed. The novel takes place on an island after a plane had crashed and left several boys younger than the age of twelve stranded. As the novel progresses, they elect a leader to guide the group to safety. However, conflicts occur and by the end of the novel boys whom had been young and afraid become vicious and lose their innocence. Through out the novel, Golding demonstrates that several boys undergo a significant change, one being Jack whom feels he has more authority then the other boys on the island, only wants to hunt, and becomes bloodthirsty. From

Jack feels his strength makes him better than having the intelligence of Ralph. “ 'Ralph is like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.' ” (Golding, p. 126). Jack develops a mentality in which whatever Ralph says is unimportant because it is all nonsense which is what he feels is all that comes out of Piggy's mouth. At this point, Jack is beginning to lose his innocence because instead of caring for what his chief obeys, he chooses to

Jack originally being an innocent twelve year old choir boy eventually becomes a beast. He begins by wanting to take charge and rebelling against those in charge. His biggest concern becomes hunting for pigs and the beast instead of getting off the island. Lastly, after killing his first pig he soon develops the character of a beast because he becomes so blood thirsty and all he wants to do is kill. Thus, demonstrating that Jack is a character who helps develop the theme of a lack of innocence by his significant