Loss of innocence Lord of the Flies

Q: What is the loss of innocence?

A loss of innocence is a common theme in fiction, pop culture, and realism. It is often seen as an integral part of coming of age. It is usually thought of as an experience or period in a persons life that leads to a greater awareness of evil, pain and/or suffering in the world around them.

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Questions About Innocence
Chew on This
How is loss of innocence shown in Lord of the Flies?
What is an example of loss of innocence?
How is the theme loss of innocence presented?
What is the loss of innocence?

The boys of Lord of the Flies are stranded on the island at just the right age (between six and twelve, roughly) to drop the idealism of youth and face the real world. How convenient. And what better place to do so than an uninhabited island free of rules, restrictions, and adults? Their real world is less the soul-killing drudgery of a 9-5 job, property taxes, and a baby who won't sleep through the night than the savagery of untamed human nature—but it's a loss of innocence all the same, when we (and the kids) realize that there's nothing innocent about childhood, after all. The novel ends with its main character, Ralph, weeping for "the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart."

Questions About Innocence

At what point in the novel does Ralph start thinking that mankind is inherently evil? Do other characters come to the same conclusion?
Are the terms "mankind" and "man's heart" used interchangeably in this novel? What might be the difference between the two terms?
When Ralph talks about the "darkness of man's heart," is this a cop-out? Do you think it's easier for Ralph to think man is inherently evil than realize that all the boys, including Ralph, have chosen to be violent and hurtful?
Is Golding suggesting that children aren't actually innocent?

Chew on This

In Lord of the Flies, Simon is the only truly innocent character—which is why he's mercilessly slaughtered.

The children become savage and animalistic over the course of the novel, but they're not actually evil. In fact, the more animalistic they become, the more innocent they are: like animals, they simply don't know better.

When something pivotal happens to someone, their attitude and way of thinking change devastatingly. Although these boys may only be 6-12, they go through the same things that anyone would undergo. This loss of innocence causes people to act in ways contrary to their typical self. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the characterization of the boys to illustrate how people lose their innocence when going through a traumatic event. The littluns might just be elementary age boys, but they lose their innocence and show a true savage side, as seen throughout the book. The littluns start out as innocent little school boys, but by the end of the book they’ll have gone all out savage. “…Now you been and set the whole island on fire” said Ralph (Page 37). As shown in this quote, the littluns get way too excited with the new technological advancement of fire, and burn down half of the island. As this happens, they realize that they will not get punished by anyone for their actions now, and realize that they can do whatever they want, without any consequences. You can see the changes between the boys in …show more content…
“Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry- threw it to miss” (Page 51). As described on page 51, Roger throws rocks at the littluns, but he misses purposely, because he was trained to be afraid of the consequences. But, when Roger realizes that they are somewhere with no consequences, he starts to act freely and do what he pleases. He ends up purposely dropping a boulder on- and killing- Piggy without any care in the world, because who is going to punish him? Although you might think he hadn’t changed throughout, he had, and he goes from missing Walter to not hurt him, to almost nonchalantly dropping a boulder to smash Piggy’s head. Roger is just another prime example of how the biguns change, and he isn’t the

Lord of the Flies Literary Essay Loss of innocence is when a person loses all those characters that adheres a person to their childhood, and is that time when a person is unaware of the cruel and evil world. Loss o innocence is a part of the human progression and for that; it is something human beings cannot escape from. Many authors convey loss of innocence as an allegory or main theme in novels: to further develop the plot, characters and to present significance of symbols. A brilliant example of an author who effectively utilizes the theme loss of innocence in his novel Lord of the Flies is William Golding. Golding uses characters, murders and symbols to illustrate the theme, of loss of innocence throughout the novel. Golding uses characteristics …show more content…
The killing of the pig is another murder which enhances the theme, loss of innocence in the novel: by indicating the first ever action which signifies that Jack and his hunters have know lost their innocence. This event is very significant because this killing brings the young boys to a realization that they are powerful enough to end a life. As well, brings with it the desire to further kill without guilt or regret. This is important when Jack and the Hunters start chanting “kill the pig, cut her throat, Spill her blood”(72). This chant indicates that the hunters have left behind all their innocence when they brutally kill the pig, without any respect for the living animal. Hence this shows the lack of respect and value the have for what they just killed, because the boys are celebrating the death of the pig and even mocking its pain. They mock the death and pain by creating games and chants about it. This clarifies that the boys no longer have that compassion and respect left within them; the killing of the pig bring that savage transformation of theirs forward. Similarly,Simon’s death contributes to loss of innocence because this is the very first time the boys kill another just like them. They also commit an act that is referred to as murder in a civilized society, and something that people are punished and shunned for. The boys killed Simon and allowed his “dead body [to] move out towards the open sea” (Golding 170). The next day during a conversation between Piggy and Ralph, Ralph states “that was Simon […] that was murder” (172). The boys have now lost all of their innocence, because they have killed a human, a boy just similar to them. Not just any savage boy, but a boy who is pure and very much personified as Jesus himself. Simon, the one that same to ease their fears of the beast, a boy carrying the truth; but unfortunately ends up dead at the hands of

How is loss of innocence shown in Lord of the Flies?

In the Lord of the Flies the boys lose their innocence in exchange for savagery or for maturity because of the attitudes towards killing animals and people. Ralph and Piggy lose their innocence and transform into mature people because they oppose killing people and do not enjoy killing animals.

What is an example of loss of innocence?

Examples of loss of innocence Medical knowledge entails a certain loss of innocence, and physicians are unable to revert to being "mere" patients. Medical knowledge therefore may entail a certain loss of innocence, and physicians are often unable to revert to being "mere" patients.

How is the theme loss of innocence presented?

Loss of innocence is a very common theme in fiction novels. This theme is when a character becomes more aware about the greater evil and suffering in the world around them due to events that has happened to them. This can make a character mature more quickly in a story.

What is the loss of innocence?

A "loss of innocence" is a common theme in fiction, pop culture, and realism. It is often seen as an integral part of coming of age. It is usually thought of as an experience or period in a person's life that leads to a greater awareness of evil, pain and/or suffering in the world around them.