Loss on the Island
Everyone grows up, some sooner than others. But what happens when people are forced to grow up? In Lord of the Flies by William Golding a group of boys have to survive on a desert island after a plane crash. Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon attempt to lead the younger boys but they will hate to grow up in order to do so. The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about innocence, and how it is lost when you are forced to grow up.
Loss of innocence is possibly the most evident in the pig hunts throughout the book. At first the boys are nervous about what they’re doing. “The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be.” (pg 31). This part is in the very beginning, when the boys are climbing up the mountain to scout out the land and they find a piglet tangled in the creepers. Jack pauses before stabbing the pig and the boys realize what is really going to happen if they continue, and that they will be responsible for the death of a living thing. Later on they lose this naivety and that is evident in the quote “ Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (pg 135). Here it is shown how savage to boys have really become, and how much
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At first they imagine that the Queen’s navy and great ships will come and rescue them, but near the end they know that they will not be rescued unless they keep a signal fire lit. Ralph first says “When he gets leave he’ll come and rescue us.” (pg 130). and in this case he is talking about his father. Later, he is adamant about keeping the fire lit because he has abandoned the thought that they will ever be rescued without the fire. “How can we ever be rescued except by luck if we don’t keep a fire going” (pg 80). His level of maturity has risen, just in the last few days of leading the boys, and doing so has made him more of an