Loss Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Shirley Conran once said “Loss of innocence comes when you have to deal with the real world by yourself, when you learn that the first rule of life is kill or be killed.” Learning the rules of life is something we must all do, and this is clearly shown in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. All of the boys are stranded on the island with no adults, so they are forced to experience life on their own. The idea of learning the real world's rules has connections to the theme of gaining experience comes at the cost of one’s innocence. In Lord of the Flies the idea of the boys’ innocence becoming diluted as they experience more of life on the stranded island is explored in its conflicts, characterizations, symbols. In Lord of

Jack and a group of boys have found a pig so they try to kill it. “The blade continued to flash at the end of a bonny arm. The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward strike would be” (Golding 31). Jack stopped for a moment before sticking the pig with his knife. This is in the beginning of the book when Jack is less experienced with life on the island, so he hesitates before killing the pig letting it get away. Jack at this point has spent a small amount of time on the island, so he still has issues killing living pigs; this shows his innocence. Later on in the story Jack is explaining to Ralph how he killed a pig. “I cut the pig's throat,' said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it.”(Golding 69). Jack is telling how he slit the pig's neck boastfully, but has a slight twitch saying it. This is Jack's first kill and he did it with the other hunters. Jack’s experiences on the island lead him to his first kill; he still is a little uncomfortable, shown with his twitch in his speech, but he has crossed the line to being able to take another being’s life, Displaying that Jack is losing his purity. With this piece of innocence gone it gets worse and eventually leads to the hunters all beating on Robert with Jack leading them. ”Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of the frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and

The choir boys are being introduced in their choir outfits. “Shorts, shirts, and different garments they carried in their hands; but each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge on it.”(Golding 19). All the choir boys are in their complete choir uniforms. This is when the choir boys' later hunters are first introduced. The innocence of the choir boys at the beginning of their time on the island is symbolized by them wearing their civilized outfits in contrast to the surrounding wilderness. As the story progresses they begin to match their wild surroundings. An example is Jack painting his face with his surrounding materials. “Jack planned his new face. He made one cheek and one eye socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw.”(Golding 63). Jack with charcoal, clay and other natural materials paints all over his face to look like war paint. Jack was the leader of the choir boys and now the hunters so he changes his look to match his new role on the island. Jack painting his face is him embracing the hunt which has come from living on the island. This symbolizes the boys becoming less innocent people the longer they are stranded on the island. Jack also symbolizes the boys’ innocence being lost as he gets tired of the conch, and this comes at a boiling point in