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Loss Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

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Loss of innocence plays an immense role in William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies. A group of young boys are forced to make adult choices when they are stranded on an island after their plane crashes in the ocean. One of the main characters, Ralph, is quickly elected leader of the boys. The boys learn fast living with no adults means dealing with adult responsibilities. “Listen, everybody. I’ve got to have time to think things out. I can’t decide what to do straight off,” Says Ralph. Immediately, Ralph is faced with obstacles, and has to be responsible for a group of boys who look up to him. As days go by, the boys are faced with many challenges. At first, it’s smaller things like what to eat and drink, and shelter. They have to work together to overcome any childhood fears and learn to survive on their own. …show more content…

They fall victim to the island, and slowly turn into savages. Because they are still children with strong imaginations, they believe they are not alone. The thought of a beast living on the island with them emerges from the boys firm imaginations, and starts killing any innocence the boys have left. One of the best examples of loss of innocence in this book is when a main character, Jack, starts hunting pigs. Before his hunt, he put clay and dirt on his face to use as camouflage, To this young boy, it was a lot more than camouflage. When he put the mask of clay on, he was a completely different person. He was ruthless and violent. He was not the same Jack from the beginning of the novel. ““ I cut the pig’s throat…There was lashings of blood.” Said Jack laughing and shuddering. “You should have seen it!

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Schoolboys lose their innocence Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence by Mason Cooley. In the book Lord of Flies , schoolboys from England crashed on an island , near the Pacific. Their innocence starts to slowly drift away as the longer they stay at the island. The boys tried to keep their connection to the adult world , but the boys were losing hope. The schoolboys lost their innocence by killing a mama pig , killing another school boy named Simon and hunting down another school boy named Ralph, to the point of almost killing him.

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In literary works, the theme of loss of innocence serves as a powerful exploration of the human condition, revealing the profound effects it has on individuals and their understanding of the world. This theme is exemplified in both William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" and Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible," where the characters are confronted with harsh realities that shatter their innocent perceptions. Through examining the causes, effects, and realizations of the loss of innocence in these novels, we gain insight into the tragic transformation of individuals in the face of challenging circumstances. As we delve into the depths of these narratives, it becomes evident that the loss of innocence is a universal experience that transcends

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In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, one of the themes is the loss of innocence. The loss of innocence begins as Jack and his choir group are assigned hunters. Ralph, being the leader, tries to keep the boys on fire watch just in case any boats or planes pass by, but there's more on Jack’s mind other than being rescued. As Jack’s hunting becomes his main priority it leads to savagery replacing what was once his innocence.

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In the book, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses five main themes one of which is loss of innocence. There are several occasions were loss of innocence takes place in the story. While reading the book, I tried to imagine myself as if I was one of the characters living on the island and what was like trying to solve problems. In the book, Lord of the Flies, It shows the capacity for human beings to modify their behavior in order to survive while being capable of doing heinous things and losing their innocence. It shows the capacity for human beings to modify their behavior in order to survive while being capable of doing heinous things and losing their innocence.

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The turning point in their loss of childhood and innocence was when they murder their first victim. When Simon dies, all innocence is lost on the island which reinforces Golding’s theme that when innocence is gone, irrational thinking and violence will occur.

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Without constantly being terrified of “the beast” and scaring themselves into savagery, they never would have enjoyed the heinous act. At one point in the novel, Jack’s subconscious mind realised that “...the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.”, but because his fear and hatred was so strong, he didn’t allow himself to fully process it. This happened to many of the other

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I believe good is intrinsic, while evil is extrinsic. Intrinsic means essential. Extrinsic means not part of the essential nature of someone or something. Everyone is born with a friendly soul but they have the ability to learn to become evil. Some people in life may seem along the lines of evil since they were born.

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Innocence is the light in the world and each child is born with it. It’s only a matter of time until it’s ripped from them. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A mockingbird, Scout, Jem and Dill’s childhood innocence are slowly wore away as they realize the world isn’t as bright as they think. The word “Dibs” can be a child’s downfall or their triumph. Only three letters give a child the security of a certain fate, but in a court trial, Jem’s eyes are opened to the possibility of losing no matter how you play your cards.

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Also, within the novel Lord of the Flies the topic of innocence is shown in specific children. There are similarities between Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies that prove that there is innocence in certain characters. Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies proves that there is innocence inside of children. There was an example where an antagonist like character named Roger that would still resist to throw rocks at the younger children, the novel says, “Yet there was a space between round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw.

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Being on the island everyone is contsantly faced with the fear of the unknown the younger boys need someone to protect them from the fears on the island. Although nothing manages to scare the boys as much as the beastie does. When a little boy with a mullberry birthmark informs everyone that he has seen a beastie. The older boys emitiatly belive its his imagination but even later in the novel the boys start to question the exsitance of the beast. After the killing of simion, jack is belives ut was simon disguised as the beast, and that the beast is not dead.

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The loss of innocence holds a comparable weight to the loss of an individual. In Lord of the Flies, Golding writes, “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding, 202). At this moment, Ralph realizes that he is about to be rescued from the island. A moment highly anticipated by readers as one of unequivocal joy turned into a moment of deep reflection and despair. Ralph realizes everything that has been taken from him by this experience.

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Lastly, Jack is known as the rebel of the story who disagrees with the leaders, and is pure evil from middle to end. Although Jack is evil, his bad character trait ensures his survival and alliance with the boys. The first example of when Jack’s evilness is shown in the story is when Jack hunts the pig and puts its head on a stick, the line says “ Jack held the head up and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth. He stood back and the head hung there, a little blood dribbling down the stick” ( Golding, 150). This shows Jack’s evilness because instead of fearing the beast he is offering him the head of the pig that he just brutally murdered.

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Innocence can be depicted as blind trust and ignorance to the world. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954), he shows this ignorant side of innocence. The boys that were placed on the island were mainly children under the age of ten and Golding slowly begins to strip away their humanity as time on the island lengthens. In The Count of Monte Cristo (1844), Alexander Dumas takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on ignorance, Dumas a naïve and trusting young man named Edmund Dantes.

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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).

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“They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you. They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.” (Golding, 170). After all the chaos from previous chapters of the novel, Ralph realizes that he’s completely isolated and lonely.

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