In Lord of the Flies and “Pilgrims” the two groups of children are used to having their parents take care of them, but being placed in a situation where they must look after themselves gives them no other choice but to grow up quickly and take on the responsibilities the adult usually would. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is forced to lead the group. Ralph acts as the “parent” in many situations during their stay on the island, one being when Ralph and Jack disagree about whether or not Jack and his hunters need to help build huts. Eventually Ralph says, “‘You’ve noticed, haven’t you? They dream. You can hear ‘em. Have you been awake at night?’ Jack shook his head. ‘They talk and scream. The littleuns. (...) So we need shelters as a sort of-’
…show more content…
While the other boys are playing, Ralph is stressing over keeping the boys safe by building huts, showing how he has matured much earlier than most other children would due to the lack of authoritative figures on the island. Not only is he forced to take on the role of lead the group, but he does his best to appease everyone when he is described as, “Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something. ‘The choir belongs to you, of course.(...)They can be-what do you want them to be?’” (23). …show more content…
Similarly, in “Pilgrims”, the main cause for the children’s loss of innocence is the fact that they have no adult authority figure in their lives, since their parents do not carry out their parental duties and ignore their children and their needs. Thus, the children are forced to step up and take on the missing role in their lives. Ella’s parents neglect to protect her innocence when she is taken to the hospital during a chemotherapy treatment, and she describes it as, "a series of connected images she wished she didn 't have to watch” (Orringer 3). Usually parents would shield their children from these kinds of images to maintain their innocence, yet she has seen “images she wished she didn’t have to watch,” causing the forced maturation and loss of innocence due to her early exposure to traumatizing situations. Ella, similar to Ralph, behaves in a parental way since there is no parental figure in their lives. Orringer describes a routine as, "...her brother could hear their mother and father crying in their bedroom. Ella would give four knocks and her brother would run to her room and crawl under the covers" (Orringer 4).
While the other boys are playing, Ralph is stressing over keeping the boys safe by building huts, showing how he has matured much earlier than most other children would due to the lack of authoritative figures on the island. Not only is he forced to take on the role of lead the group, but he does his best to appease everyone when he is described as, “Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something. ‘The choir belongs to you, of course.(...)They can be-what do you want them to be?’” (23). …show more content…
Similarly, in “Pilgrims”, the main cause for the children’s loss of innocence is the fact that they have no adult authority figure in their lives, since their parents do not carry out their parental duties and ignore their children and their needs. Thus, the children are forced to step up and take on the missing role in their lives. Ella’s parents neglect to protect her innocence when she is taken to the hospital during a chemotherapy treatment, and she describes it as, "a series of connected images she wished she didn 't have to watch” (Orringer 3). Usually parents would shield their children from these kinds of images to maintain their innocence, yet she has seen “images she wished she didn’t have to watch,” causing the forced maturation and loss of innocence due to her early exposure to traumatizing situations. Ella, similar to Ralph, behaves in a parental way since there is no parental figure in their lives. Orringer describes a routine as, "...her brother could hear their mother and father crying in their bedroom. Ella would give four knocks and her brother would run to her room and crawl under the covers" (Orringer 4).