Lord of the Flies: loss of innocence in the boys | William Golding
Q. Lord of the Flies: How does the novel portray the loss of innocence in the boys?
Answer: William Golding's novel, “Lord of the Flies"
exposes the dark tendencies hidden inside the human nature. The central theme
of this novel is - The loss of innocence of children, when they are trapped on
a deserted island after an accident. As the story moves forward, the innocence
within children gradually transforms into cruelty, which reflects their
distance and physical, mental conflict from society and civilization.
At the beginning of the story, the innocence
of these children is clearly visible. They are of good nature, follow the rules
and live together with each other. Ralph chooses his leader, make rules, and
create a system that is similar to his old society. Conch Shell which becomes a symbol of
arrangement and democracy is a symbol of their innocence and civilization.
But over time when these children struggle to
survive, the absence of adults and their separation from civilization gradually
destroys their innocence. The first indication of this change is when they are
fascinated by the beauty of the island. The greenery of the island and the
freedom here free them from the shackles of the society. This freedom further
strengthens their rebellious spirit, and goes away from the rules they
followed.
In addition, the development of a vessel called
Jack further clarifies the loss of innocence. In the beginning, Jack follows
the rules made by Ralph, but the greed of his power and dominance gradually
eats it. As he starts enjoying hunting and killing, he gets away from the
morality of the group. This conversion of Jack appears as abandoning Conch Shell
and creating its separate tribe, which is based on fear and cruelty.
As the story moves forward, the identity of
the fear and the reality of the inner "ghost" within the children gradually
end. Initially, they consider it a ghostly creature hidden somewhere in the
forest. But as their fear increases, they begin to see the darkness within
themselves as that ghost. Their growing beliefs show that they are losing their
rationalism and innocence and are now behaving according to their natural instincts.
The killing of Simon is the extreme point of
this change. Simon is a kind of symbol of good and spiritual understanding.
When the boys accidentally kill him as a "ghost", it shows the last
limit of his vandalism. The murder of Simon and the lack of any kind of regrets
on it suggest that they have now moved away from civilization to darkness.
Thus, Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies"
is the story of the gradual endings of the children's innocence. They have now
become completely ruthless and wild children who had good habits and decent
behavior at the beginning. The novel shows how the absence of adults,
separation from society, and priced instincts (natural trends) hidden within
human nature can destroy any decent system.
Finally, the children enjoy freedom on the
island, rebelling from rules, emergence of dictatorship of Jack, fear of
"ghost", and killing of Simon, all reflect the process of losing
innocence in the novel. Golding raises the question whether the civilization is
really weak and can the underlying darkness ever emerge inside humanity?
*****
Read also:
👉 Lord of the Flies | Allusions to ‘the Coral Island’
👉 To the Lighthouse | as a stream of consciousness novel
👉 To the Lighthouse | Significance of the Title
👉 Modern Fiction | Virginia Woolf’s view upon the nature of modern fiction
👉 Murder in the Cathedral | Significance of the Temptation scene
👉 The waste Land | Myths and allusions, used in T.S. Eliot's poem
👉 The Waste Land | A poem about decay and degeneration
👉 Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot | The idea of ‘waiting’
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