Childhood In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts childhood as a tumultuous period of time marked by struggle, savagery, and terror, contrary to the common image of inherent innocence. This controversial interpretation serves as a central point for many of the novel’s themes surrounding man’s instincts and behavior. Golding’s interpretation of childhood exposes the role of society in shaping the meaning of innocence and further alludes to the regressive characteristics of war.
The loss of societal values and rules throughout the novel often marks the boys’ gradual descent into savagery and thus, their loss of innocence. In the beginning of the novel, the boys simply play and do as they wish without any parental control; however, they remain tame and overall nonviolent, as those restrictions imposed by

Golding implies that Roger’s natural instinct would be to harm the child, an action only restricted because authority figures have made it so. Through the use of discipline and punishment, the boys have been taught to repress violent and wild behavior all of their lives. However, as the memory of parents and the law fades in the children’s minds, they begin to normalize cruelty to one another. For instance, when the hunters support Piggy for reprimanding Jack, it “drove Jack to violence” and “able at last to hit someone” (Golding 71), Jack lets out his anger by punching Piggy. The boys begin to adopt use of physical harm to silence opposition as the level of physical force escalates from a mere punch to murder. Such sinful and violent acts taint the image of naïveté and innocence created by society. Finally, the death of Piggy and the destruction of the conch mark the true loss of authoritative power over the boys. The conch was a