“The Loss of Innocence in Lord of the Flies” Imagine being thrown onto an island with nothing but your mind, strength, and peers. How would one think of surviving, let alone escaping if one cannot grow or show growth in mind or body. This type of growth is not something one gains with no consequences, it is something one gains from losing an important quality. This quality is in every child, but in no adult. One can have, but it is lost forever once this “growth” happens. In “Lord of the Flies” one character specifically goes through this type of “growth,” this character is Ralph and the quality that he lost is his innocence. He lost this innocence due to experiencing the terror and brutality man can do to one another in a survival situation.
…show more content…
There are four direct cases of him trying and failing to protect others. The first failure was the death of the mulberry birthmark child. The child was assumed to be burned to death by Ralph’s unorganized attempt at making a signal fire, which in turn lit the surrounding trees on fire. “‘Where is he now?,’ Ralph muttered the reply as if in shame.”(47) Ralph shows his regret in haphazardly setting the island on fire and losing the life of a young boy. Second, Ralph failed to stop the uprising of Jack’s vicious tribe and losing most of his followers based on an imaginary monster. “For a while they sat in depressed silence.”(128) The scene of Ralph showing depression, based on Jack’s actions, reveals that Ralph did not want to upset or lose Jack. This clearly shows a loss of innocence in Ralph as he could not maintain peace in his tribe. Third, Ralph took part in the murder of Simon, which was due to the chaotic singing and dancing of Jack’s tribe. The ritual Jack’s tribe preformed caused the boys to go into a frenzy and unleashed their innate human savagery. After Ralph regained his senses, he knew he murdered Simon and felt intense remorse. “That was murder.”(156) Ralph said this because he knew what he did was wrong and there was no coming back from killing someone. He lost an immense amount of innocence due to the murder of Simon. Finally, when trying to run from Jack’s tribe Ralph and Piggy had a boulder hurled at …show more content…
Ralph started out as a strong and looked up to leader, but it all went downhill due to the stresses of making and maintaining a government, failing to protect others, and trying to escape from a fire-torn, savage populated island by himself. The growth Ralph experiences will never leave him and his innocence will never come back. He now has an intense, but true view that people are capable of the brutality and savagery he, himself experienced on that island. Him being a child and having the experiences he had, gave him the mentality of an adult. A child is born with innocence and naivety, because they do not know how dangerous the world is, and with time that innocence and nativity should leave that child and when that happens that child is now an adult with a better understanding of the world and the people who live in
There are four direct cases of him trying and failing to protect others. The first failure was the death of the mulberry birthmark child. The child was assumed to be burned to death by Ralph’s unorganized attempt at making a signal fire, which in turn lit the surrounding trees on fire. “‘Where is he now?,’ Ralph muttered the reply as if in shame.”(47) Ralph shows his regret in haphazardly setting the island on fire and losing the life of a young boy. Second, Ralph failed to stop the uprising of Jack’s vicious tribe and losing most of his followers based on an imaginary monster. “For a while they sat in depressed silence.”(128) The scene of Ralph showing depression, based on Jack’s actions, reveals that Ralph did not want to upset or lose Jack. This clearly shows a loss of innocence in Ralph as he could not maintain peace in his tribe. Third, Ralph took part in the murder of Simon, which was due to the chaotic singing and dancing of Jack’s tribe. The ritual Jack’s tribe preformed caused the boys to go into a frenzy and unleashed their innate human savagery. After Ralph regained his senses, he knew he murdered Simon and felt intense remorse. “That was murder.”(156) Ralph said this because he knew what he did was wrong and there was no coming back from killing someone. He lost an immense amount of innocence due to the murder of Simon. Finally, when trying to run from Jack’s tribe Ralph and Piggy had a boulder hurled at …show more content…
Ralph started out as a strong and looked up to leader, but it all went downhill due to the stresses of making and maintaining a government, failing to protect others, and trying to escape from a fire-torn, savage populated island by himself. The growth Ralph experiences will never leave him and his innocence will never come back. He now has an intense, but true view that people are capable of the brutality and savagery he, himself experienced on that island. Him being a child and having the experiences he had, gave him the mentality of an adult. A child is born with innocence and naivety, because they do not know how dangerous the world is, and with time that innocence and nativity should leave that child and when that happens that child is now an adult with a better understanding of the world and the people who live in