Lord Of The Flies In-Class Essay

Lord of The Flies In-Class Essay In the novel “Lord of The Flies” by William Golding, there are two prominent themes, leadership roles and the loss of innocence. In the novel a group of british school boys end up stranded on a deserted island as a result of a plane crash. As the two main characters, Jack and Ralph start fighting for leadership, the younger boys lose their innocence trying to decide who to trust and follow. One theme that stands out in Lord of The Flies is the use of leadership roles. When the boys crash landed on the island an older boy named Ralph found a conch shell. Once all of the boys were together they established the conch as a sign of power, using it to talk without being interrupted. On page 59 Golding wrote, “They

When the boys crash-landed on the island they were mostly all innocent other than a few exceptions. The boy who the reader can see loses the most innocence is Jack. Jack is the choir leader and just wants more power, like a dictator. As the story goes on, the reader sees how Jack changes from an innocent choir boy to a pig obsessed ravenous killer. The point where the reader can see the most loss of innocence is when Jack and his hunters murdered the pig and smeared its blood on their faces. The painting of the faces hides their former selves and assists them in becoming savages. Later in the novel the boys put the pig's head on a stick as a sign of accomplishment and another boy, Simon, stumbles upon the pig head also known as “The Lord of The Flies” in a peaceful clearing and it starts talking to him. After Simon's conversation with the pigs head he stumbles back to the boys where they mistake him for “The Beast” and end up attacking him and eventually killing him. This death symbolizes the boys finally losing all order and conscience that civilization used to provide them with. At the end of the novel the boys end up trying to kill ralph due to his different ideas to get off the island. As Ralph fights back Golding writes, “in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped hair, Ralph wept for the end of innocence.” (202) Saying this the author shows ralphs softer side and