Archetypal Theme In Lord Of The Flies

In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author uses the archetypal theme “loss of innocence.” Loss of innocence typically refers to someone who has become an adult from exposure to evil, pain, and suffering in the world. The boys’ first encounter with the hardships of life is the plane crash. After this initial misfortune, they boys are riddled with immeasurable pain and countless opportunities for evil-doing. Sadly, the majority of the boys choose evil: Jack’s tribe of savages. Each boy in the book loses his innocence. Whether it be by performing acts that inflict suffering, such as Jack brutally slaying pigs, killing Piggy, and attempting to kill Ralph, or by being inflicted with pain and suffering, such as Ralph, who Jack pursued within an inch of his life. “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend

Follows the Tragedy plot when Ralph was unable to inspire his people to listen to him and he fell from the throne into Jack’s vindictive chase. During the climax of the book, the author follows the Rebirth plot. Jack has every boy hunting Ralph like a pig. Ralph must run and hide for his life until the kind naval officer arrived to rescue everyone, ending the witch hunt. The whole of the book follows the Voyage and Return plot. The boys are stranded on an island, where they must learn how to live without the guidance of adults. At first, life is exciting because they can play all day and do whatever they please. However, as the story progresses, Ralph sees what happens to the other boys when they continue to live irresponsibly and realizes that he must grow up and get off the island. Ralph tries to motivate the other boys to share his newfound insight, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there may be a ship out there” (Golding