Jack's Loss Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies

While not apparent, Golding subtly includes the suffering of Jack as he loses his innocence, descending from the leader of a choir group to the tyrannical chief of savages. Jack’s innocence is clearly displayed throughout the earlier chapters of the novel. Throughout the novel, his loss of innocence is highlighted in three main ways: his treatment of the pigs on the island, his physical appearance, and his hatred for Ralph, all which display suffering as an effect. By examining his treatment of pigs, a clear distinction can be seen by juxtaposing his behavior at the beginning and later sections of the novel. When venturing in the forest for the first time with Ralph and Simon, Jack could not kill the piglet; the narrator attributed his inability …show more content…
Rather than losing his innocence due to his own actions –such as Ralph’s involvement in Simon’s murder or Jack’s killing of the pig- Simon’s loss of innocence is caused by the “deeper insight into the situation than the others” (Michel-Michot). Simon understands a truth that Ralph only realizes at the end of the novel: “there is no ‘beastie’, the evil is within the children themselves” (Michel-Michot). This is evident during the meeting in which the boys are voting to see if the beast is real. When questioned about why he raised his hand, Simon merely states, “…maybe it’s only us” (72). Simon confirms his point when he sees the grotesque murder of the sow. By watching the hunters do such a vile, disgusting action, Simon suffers due to seeing the true nature of humans. Simon’s example of physical suffering caused by the loss of innocence relates to this theme in two ways. The first way is a literal interpretation of “suffering is caused by the loss of innocence.” Because Simon discovers the truth behind the beast on the mountaintop and the beast within the boys, he is brutally murdered by the mob of boys. Another way to interpret Simon’s brutal murder as a way to explain that suffering is a result of the loss of innocence is the difference between the mob and Simon. Because Simon recognizes the truth about the beast, he becomes a “scapegoat of his society” (Rosenfield) and is murdered for his loss of innocence. On the other hand, the mob –which consists predominantly of littluns and those who have not lost their innocence- does not suffer. By drawing a parallel between the treatment of one who has lost their innocence and those who have not, Golding establishes the topic of this essay. Unlike Jack or Ralph, Simon does not cower from his suffering; instead, he accepts all of it and fights his evil, which appears as the Lord of the Flies,