Loss of Innocence in The Lord of the Flies

Today,

The Ones That Lead the Way

Of all the boys in the novel, the two who experienced the greatest loss of innocence would have to be the protagonist and antagonist themselves, Ralph and Jack. Although they each began with a different initial level of innocence, they both substantially being each other's equal. Ralph certainly had to go a ways in order to match Jack's intensity but Ralph experienced a more tragic and dynamic change. He went from being the law and order of the group to resorting to the Jack's savagery in order to save himself. This just goes to show how deep Jack went that even Ralph had to stoop down to his level to survive. The once leader had now fallen victim to Jack's power of taking away innocence, besides, Jack seemingly had little to begin with. Nonetheless, he completely lost all of it when he took the lives of both the sow and Simon. The once merely rebellious lead hunter had now become a murder and there was no going back.

our version of a diminishing innocence is the natural progression to maturity most of us will go through. Growing up to possess more responsibilities an obligations is a clear indication of the diminishing the care-free life of our childhood. It goes to show, it does not require something as traumatizing as being stranded on a deserted island to be subject of diminishing innocence, but in reality, it happens to all of us. We cannot remain as children forever, Never Never Land unfortunately does not exist. Eventually, we are forced to face the real world and survive whatever it throws at us. Unfortunately, Golding's boys had to experience this at a much earlier stage of their lives being the victims of a crash landing. In their case, the real world presented itself to them as the uncivilized and rooted lesson of basic survival instincts. They didn't face a job, paying off bills, or raising children, no, they had to learn the savage and ruthless way that the real world was a life or death situation where it was every man for himself.

Lesson Learned

William Golding successfully conveyed his message of the innate evil that is within all of us. However, he offered much more than this, especially with the issue of the boys' innocence. He allows the readers to witness the tragic decay of their sense of childhood, one that he has proven to be not very innocent at all under the circumstances. Being so young justified just how powerful this evil instinct is embedded in humanity, it simply knows no limits in regard to age. It is just a matter of triggering the survival instincts of an individual, once the beast within has awoken, there is no stopping it from rattling its cage to be set free. This beast so easily takes away your innocence, just as the boys had been victim to. Innocence was created by society and it is only society who can destroy it with the very people it composes who unlock the beast within others' and most of all themselves.

Quotes

"The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island, great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island, and infected by the emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy". Chapter 12 p. 248

"You got your small fire all right." [...] the boys were falling still and silent, feeling the beginnings of awe at the power set free below them" Chapter 2 p. 210

The boys had just managed to set half the island on fire and Piggy sarcastically points out the damage they had really done. They feel the guilt and fear of the consequences that this incident poses but realize that for the first time, there was no one around to punish their behavior. This new found sense of power over their actions and control over their outcomes dawns on them. They discover they can now do whatever they please without the risk of adults penalizing them. This revelation marks a significant point of the progressive loss of innocence the boys experience as the story progresses

This puts the boys' resulting non-existent innocence to stone. Ralph experiences despair when he realizes nothing is ever going to be the same again after their experience on this island. Not only did he know that he himself was no longer innocent, he learned that in fact, no one is. He comes to the same enlightenment as Simon did once he realizes his time on the island is finally up. It brings him to sobs and tears because it is a frightening truth he learned at such a young age. It was a lesson learned through barely escaping the seemingly inevitable demise at the hands of Jack, a learning process he survived but ultimately could not handle.

At last,

we witness the boys' last remaining sense of innocence slip away after the murder of of Simon as described in Piggy's account; "You can take spears if you want but I shan't. What's the good? I'll have to be led like a dog, anyhow. Yes, laugh. Go on, laugh. There's them on this island as would laugh at anything. And what happened? What's grown-ups goin' to think? Young Simon was murdered" (Golding 182). The fact Piggy used the 'murdered' signifies the reality of the crime that has just been committed. In civilization, they would not be legally innocent. This goes on further with the death of Piggy at the hands of Roger. What little to no innocence they have left by the end of the novel is depicted by their impulsive shaking and sobbing upon the naval officer's arrival. Once they discover they were to be rescued, they woke up from their trance of savagery and realized the damage they had done not only to each other, but to their own selves.

Soon after,

Golding starts to rattle the cages that enclose the beasts inside the young boys. This is more than apparent with none other than the lead hunter himself, Jack; he progressively conducted his raids with more seriousness and savagery every time, showing more and more of his submission into wickedness. This savagery reaches its height when Jack finally kills the sow, beheads it, then displays it in Simon's peaceful clearing. This indicates the point of no return for Jack, the beast inside him was released, he has lost his innocence. Upon seeing the awful display, "[Simon sees] the picture of a human at once heroic and sick", signifying his own personal loss of innocence after realizing the sow that was so morbidly held up by a spear, was in reality him and the boys (Golding 140). He felt the violation he so witnessed with discovery that the beast was in him too.

From the start,

we are introduced to a group of young boys that are as innocent as they are expected to be at such an age. We can examine this right from the very first chapter where we can observe their harmless and obedient behaviors when "three small children, no older than Johnny, appeared from startlingly close at hand where they had been gorging fruit in the forest. A dark little boy, not much younger than Piggy, parted a tangle of undergrowth, walked on to the platform, and smiled cheerfully at everybody. More and more of them came. Taking their cue from the innocent Johnny, they sat down on the fallen palm trunks and waited. Ralph continued to blow short, penetrating blasts". Knowing the exact level of innocence they began with further emphasizes the immense change they undergo after the savagery that unfolds very briefly after this first meeting.

Symbolism

The private and peaceful nature spot Simon finds for himself is one symbol symbol of the boys' innocence. It was initially where he found found solace from the rest of the boys and peace of mind. However, when Jack vandalizes the glade with the sow's bloody head, we discover, along with Simon himself that the gruesome act had disrupted the purpose of this area, indicating the destruction of the boys' innocence at the peak of the conflict.

Loss of Innocence

Ayn Verona