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Loss Of Identity In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

611 Words3 Pages

Golding shows loss of identity in Lord of the Flies by the actions of Jack Roger and Ralph.
Loss of innocence is first seen in Jack and the choir boys. Jack’s evil is shown starting from the mask he paints onto himself with the clays and charcoals on the island. The mask, “liberated from shame and self-consciousness”, allowing him, along with the other choir boys to enjoy hunting and killing (Golding 64). His actions are seen as a loss of innocence during the killing of the pig. The hunting, hurting, and killing of the animal is overmastering and compels the boys to hurt and do more damage. With the horror and brutality of the pig, the cheerfulness and the accomplishment of the boys causes them to play, celebrate, and chant “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 69). Along with the murder of the pigs, Jack’s loss of innocence does more than harm animals. Jack …show more content…

Unlike the other boys, he tried to fight it and knew right from wrong, but the island still changed him into a beast like the rest. When Ralph first goes to explore the island, he and Jack realized the enjoyment of destruction, pushing large rocks down the mountain.The boys were proud of the destruction they created and believed that “This belongs to us” (Golding 28). Ralph was excited that they could do whatever they want. After the pig got away from the boys when they went to find the beast, Ralph did hit him with the spear, and that was enough to feed the evil that all the boys had. The boys reenact killing the pig, pretending to hurt Robert, and even for Ralph, “The desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering” (Golding 115). Also, going to Jack’s feast causes a crime that Ralph commits. Ralph and Piggy join the other boys and partake in the feast, the dance, the killing. Ralph knows that he killed Simon and he knows that his innocence is gone. He regrets the things he does and “cradles the conch to and fro”, wishing for order again (Golding

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Loss of ingenuousness is exhibted in Jack’s transition from an average child to a ravenous, killing barbarians. The bullying and hurtfulness that Piggy faces on the island causes the loss of his innocence. Ralph loses his purity by observing how the events that take place on the island are turning it into a region of darkness and dread. Lord of the Flies is the perfect novel to satisfy Geoffrey S. Fletcher’s interest in “... how innocence fares when it collides with hard reality” because of how simplicity is destroyed in all characters once they have experienced the harsh realities that are introduced by the horrors of the island (Geoffrey S. Fletcher

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He goes hunting with other boys on the island, and they successfully kill a pig. Unfortunately, they let the signal fire out in the process. Ralph tries to look for the boys, when they come marching in, carrying a dead pig. The boys, led by Jack, are chanting “kill the pig. Cut her throat.

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In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses items and people to symbolize many different things. These symbolic things include Piggy’s glasses, Simon’s epilepsy, the Lord of the Flies, and arguably the most important symbol, the conch shell. The conch shell was first found in the water by Piggy, who then comes up with the idea of using the conch as a blow horn to call for meetings. Throughout Lord of the Flies, the conch shell becomes not only associated with Ralph and his leadership, but with Piggy and his intuitive and wise ideas and Jack and his dictator-like, irresponsible authority. The conch shell, representing law and order, assisted in the election of Ralph as chief and ultimately determines the future of the island.

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