Edna St. Vincent Millay once said“Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies”("Quotes About Loss Of Innocence") .In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, these kids have destroyed their childhood by committing murder after being marooned on an island for weeks. No adults are to be found, so the children have begun to run amok all around the island and tensions run high between them. The boys are forced to make their own society and their own rules. Their innocence can be questioned when they first kill the pig. The turning point in their loss of childhood and innocence was when they murder their first victim. When Simon dies, all innocence is lost on the island which reinforces Golding’s theme that when innocence is gone, irrational thinking and violence will occur. …show more content…
Simon was the epitome of innocence, because he never wanted to hurt anyone. He also tried to be on everyone’s side and looked out for the rest of the group. He believed that everyone had the best intentions, and was intuitive to the other’s emotions. For example, after Piggy confronted Ralph, Ralph was embarrassed, so Simon tried to help by, “stroking Ralph’s arm shyly”(Golding 25). He wanted to let Ralph know that he thought he made the right choice and was willing to support him. Later on, when Ralph was stressed, because there was no smoke Simon attempted to calm him, “Simon put out his hand, timidly, to touch Ralph”(67). He wanted to let him know to calm down, because it was all gonna be okay. This is the guy’s equivalent of a hug when someone is freaking out. Ralph needs Simon to remind him that someone is there supporting him, even when he feels like he is alone. Simon was always able to understand the other’s emotions and try to relieve their worries like when he comforts Ralph about returning home, “Simon nodded. ‘All the same. You’ll get back all right. I think so, anyway’”(111). He wants to reassure Ralph that he knows that
“Another reason, the simplest, the ugliest, was that this hitherto peaceful congregation of neighbors and old friends had suddenly to endure the unique experience of distrusting each other; understandably, they believed that the murder was among themselves…” (pg. 88) Holcomb have been described as a town out in the countryside in which everyone knew each other. Before the murders of the Clutter family, there was a sense of security and comfort among the people of Holcomb. The significance of this quote shows the people’s loss of innocence and the sheltered lifestyle they once had. After the tragedy, they are forced to realize the true nature of humans.
Schoolboys lose their innocence Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence by Mason Cooley. In the book Lord of Flies , schoolboys from England crashed on an island , near the Pacific. Their innocence starts to slowly drift away as the longer they stay at the island. The boys tried to keep their connection to the adult world , but the boys were losing hope. The schoolboys lost their innocence by killing a mama pig , killing another school boy named Simon and hunting down another school boy named Ralph, to the point of almost killing him.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, one of the themes is the loss of innocence. The loss of innocence begins as Jack and his choir group are assigned hunters. Ralph, being the leader, tries to keep the boys on fire watch just in case any boats or planes pass by, but there's more on Jack’s mind other than being rescued. As Jack’s hunting becomes his main priority it leads to savagery replacing what was once his innocence.
As Ralph and Simon are working hard, Ralph, a hard-working and righteous leader, informed, “All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing” (Golding, Lord 50). Simon could have joined the other boys that were having fun; nevertheless, Simon was kind to help Ralph build shelters. He stayed to assist Ralph because he cared for the welfare of the group.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird the author Harper Lee creates a strong theme showing how two of the main characters represent the innocence of a mockingbird. The two characters that are portrayed as sinners are accused of by men who are blinded by pride to the point where lives are taken. The virtue of Tom Robinson is displayed throughout the course of this story. For example, a witness from the audience at Tom Robinson’s trial speaks out and announces, “I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of stranded boys survive on an island with no adults, soon their sense of morality falls apart and violence takes place. The loss of morality causes the boys to break the rules and become violent. Eventually, the boys become uncivilized and stop caring about their actions. They get to a point where they disregard logical thought and resort to violence without reason. As the story progresses, the absence of morality causes violence to reign among the boys.
In this passage, Ralph and the others realize what they’ve done and they go into denial. They try to make themselves feel better by saying they were on the outside and couldn’t have killed Simon. This is probably the lowest point Ralph, Piggy, Sam, and Eric have sunken to. They are struggling for their humanity in the midst of the murder. Like before when they were attacking Robert, Ralph had gone to far and only after the event ended had he realized it.
According to kill a mockingbird, mockingbirds represents a sense of innocence. In the book, Miss Maudie explains to scout, why to kill a mockingbird is a sin. She says, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
This is indicating that Simon is weak from the very beginning and is a sign that he will be one of the first to fall, which he is with his death in chapter 9. Also, in chapter 3, Ralph, Simon, and Jack are talking about the condition of the island. Simon recommends making shelters to calm the little ones at night. Ralph and Piggy have a conversation, and when they return Simon is gone, even though in the past he had always been around. Simon was the voice of reason on the island, and this foreshadows his death because one minute he is there, and then he is absent, along with his logic and helpfulness, just like in his death; he is alive and well, and then he has a seizure and is killed, and all of the reason he possesses is
Throughout the novel, we quickly notice how different Simon is compared to the the rest of the boys found on the island. He becomes quickly dedicated to ralph; being one of the only ones to help him build the shelters and becoming a trusted friend. He’s very calm, humble and hopeful; never acting out of rage or ever seems the slightest bit annoyed. Simon is wise; often saying things that are not quite understood by the boys. Along with his maturity simon makes some prophetic comment one of these being "He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster.
A world war takes place as a group of boys get stranded on an island. As the boys try to escape the war, it follows them onto the island in the form of a never ending conflict with how to survive. As the boys become engaged in this war they lose their innocence. In the Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, loss of innocence plays a big role in the outcome of the book. Loss of innocence is ultimately what leads to the war which takes place on the once “good island” (Golding 34).
He recognizes that the beast is inside of the boys and there actually isn’t a beast in real life. His personality is very different than that of the other boys. In the book he has a softness towards the littunes and even helps pick the best fruit for them that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to reach. He also helps Ralph make shelters at the beginning of the book when no one else wanted to. Simon is also known to one of the most insightful and bravest of the boys on the island.
Lord of the Flies is a novel about young English boys that have been deserted on an unin-hibited Island due to a plane crash. While the boys are all under the age of thirteen, the reader would assume that innocence is prevalent throughout the novel. Although, the circumstances of the situation bring the boys and the reader to realization that innocence has disappeared in this situation. As soon as the boys are faced with the obstacle of surviving with limited supplies is when innocence takes a quick turn for the young boys. The boys did not land on the island with their innocence already being taken away from them, but through the tragedy innocence was quickly left behind in a struggle for survival and power.
(Golding, 77). Although the boys laugh at Simon’s idea, his belief conforms Golding’s idea that inner evil exists. The boys develop into the beast when they kill Simon. Simon was desperate to explain the unidentified creature on the mountain but the boys weren’t in the mood for listening to him. With his brutal murder by the other boys, chaos takes over civilized order on the island.
Think of a time when you may have known what you were doing was wrong. Then say you had no parents there to discipline you. Would you still do the thing you knew was wrong? In the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Goulding this is the reality for the characters in the book. The theme of the story is that innocence can easily be lost when there is no discipline.