Jim Garrison
Mr. Wheeler
English 9 CP, Period 3
7 March 2018
The Battle for Innocence: The Consequence that Fear Instills on Ralph’s Innocence
Innocence is unknowingly suffering from the ignorance of the truth and the loss of that innocence is something to be feared. In the dystopian fiction novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 14-year-old Ralph must survive on an island in the Pacific with a group of boys aged 5-14. The Cold War was an era filled with fear-based propaganda that caused the government to evacuate children from their homes which led to Ralph and the other crashing on a deserted island. Throughout his time on the island, Ralph suffers from the knowledge of the truth that he lacked in order to assess the
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situation he is placed under. A loss of innocence is demonstrated by Ralph’s development to manhood through the harshness of reality and the fear that is accompanied by the knowledge of the truth. When Ralph first arrives at the island, his excitement towards the realization of a lack of parenthood and the ignorant belief of freedom on the island reveals his innocence. While picking their way through the scar, Ralph and Piggy discuss how they ended up on the island and whether or not there were any adults with them. After realizing that they were alone, Ralph becomes unhappy and concerned, but then: “the delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy. ‘No grownups!’” (8). Ralph’s innocence is demonstrated through the overjoy and happiness he gains from the realization of a lack of parenthood. He doesn’t comprehend the dire situation he and Piggy are put under and consider their time on the island as a once-in-a-life opportunity to break away from the rules that they are placed under at home. Without thinking, Ralph uses the excuse that his father, who is a naval officer, will come save them and believes that they must savor the chance of freedom while they can. However, Piggy informs Ralph of the atom bomb that was detonated in their home and claims, “‘They’re all dead. Nobody don’t know were here. Your dad don’t know, nobody don’t know-’” (14). Once Ralph is able to better comprehend his situation, he becomes fearful of the perilous situation they are placed under. This is the first sign of a loss of innocence as Ralph is faced with a problem that he has to solve without that the help of a parental figure. Through the first situation of a loss of innocence, Ralph is just beginning to understand what it’s like to live life in constant fear. After the first encounter with the reality of surviving on his home, Ralph develops into a more understanding and wise character in the novel. With the boys being on the island for over a month, the first sighting of a ship is the first sign of hope in a long time. However, Jack’s group neglects to keep the signal fire alive and hunts a pig. Ralph, discovering that no fire is lit, turned to Jack and thought “The fire was dead, the ship was gone. Could they not see? Anger instead of decency passed his throat” (72). The fire is one of the main symbols in the book that resembled hope and also a protection from the belief that no one is coming to save them. Seeing the fire go out is another key event that resembles a loss of innocence in Ralph as they were one step farther from the protection of grownups. Ralph then becomes frightened of the realization that there is no hope for return which he expresses through anger that he targets at Jack. He gains wisdom through the realization that he is now the parenting figure for these children and that they look up to him just as he looks up to adults for a sense of direction. This becomes an issue when the boys start to form their own idea of a beast on the island and Ralph doesn’t have the capability to control the situation. Everyone seems to interpret the beast in their own way, but they all see it as a danger to their well-being. The fear of the beast continues to grow as the plot progresses until the boys mistakenly kill Simon thinking he is the beast. Only until the morning is Ralph able to reflect on what happened when Piggy says, “‘It was dark. There was that-that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!’” (156). Ralph in response claims, “‘I wasn’t scared…I was-I don’t know what I was’” (156). This is the main event in the book when fear begins to overtake the boys’ thoughts and actions, pushing them further away from safety. Ralph gains maturity through the death of Simon as he claims that he doesn’t know what he was, explaining that is able to claim responsibility for his actions but he doesn’t want to admit that he took part in the death of a child. An innocent character is described as ignoring the truth and focusing on what makes them happy, whereas Ralph is able to admit that he took part in Simon’s death but isn’t proud of his actions. Through gaining wisdom and maturity, Ralph grows further from innocence as his existence on the island becomes threatened by Jack and his hunters. As Jack’s hunters become more savage, Ralph loses his innocence as the fear of the hunters and the realization that no one is coming to save them causes him to understand the harshness of reality.
The divergence of the two groups of boys on the island caused Jack’s group to become dangerous and hostile, especially after they had stolen Piggy’s glasses, the only source of fire on the island. Piggy and Ralph then decided to reclaim the stolen glasses, only to have Jack’s hunters push a boulder off Castle Rock which then “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from the chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). The death of Piggy is the last connection to innocence that Ralph had, as he was the voice of reason on the island. The destruction of the conch is also symbolic in that it was the only object unifying the boys together. Seeing the destruction of unification and the voice of reason caused Ralph to flee for fear of the tribe as this marked the end of innocence as he realized the cruelty of reality and the darkness of man’s heart. As Ralph attempted to hide, he’s forced out of the jungle by Jack’s hunters onto the beach where a naval officer is standing with a ship behind him on the sea. The hunters stopped their pursuit and Ralph is able to reflect back to when the beach was a safe haven for the boys and then reflected on the events on the island. He thought about the death of Simon and then what Jack had done and then: “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… 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” (202). Seeing an adult caused Ralph to be able to realize how they have failed in their job to protect him from reality by finally giving in to the fear and trauma he had
experienced on the island. He’s able to reflect on his transformation on the island and how he had lost the innocence that protected him from wanting to believe that there was hope of survival. This is further reinforced when Ralph is finally able to see that Piggy was the only source of truth on the island and that he and the other boys took him for granted, not wanting to believe that they were in the wrong. Ralph now possess the ability to see what adults suffer through and empathize with their situation as they are the beacons that children use as a protection from the dangers of the darkness of man’s heart. After Ralph’s encounters with the fear of reality, he gains the wisdom and knowledge that causes him to lose his innocence. Ralph is able to realize that the harshness of reality is caused by the darkness of man’s heart, allowing him to empathize with adults in their attempt to preserve children’s innocence. He is finally able to regard Piggy as the only character able to see the harshness of reality and how he took his knowledge and attempt to help as a joke in hopes to avoid the possibility that he is in the wrong. In accepting his fate, he is able to understand war and brutality and the end goal of peace that is so heavily sought in order to revive the idea of innocence. As an ignorant child, Ralph is only able to grasp the importance of parents as someone to look up to and follow. As a matured adult, Ralph can finally recognize adult’s suffering in their attempt avoid the darkness of man’s heart. Works cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996. Print.
William Golding communicates the idea through Ralph that all the order and goodness of the island is gone when the Conch breaks and how the rest of the boys turned into savages. Golding shows in the novel that, “Samneric were savages like the rest; Piggy was dead, and the conch smashed to powder.” This quote it demonstrates how the other boys took everything from Ralph who was the only person still somewhat civilized. The rest of the boys just follow and let the evil inside consume them. The other boys broke the conch to show how they turned on the only person not evil. The conch broke because they forgot how authority works and the do not listen to anybody and more. Samneric turned to evil also and the only person that wasn’t changed was
His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that 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 (Golding, 290).
The impact of Jack’s savagery on the island leads to the boys forgetting the real truth about about themselves. The boys on the island are able to explain that human are evil from the beginning and that they aren’t impacted by society. The boys see the island as a place where they are free from the adult world and without any rules. The boys don’t realize that a world without rules causes the chaos on the island and the savagery within the boys. Jack’s authoritative power forces him to push the rest of the boys out of their comfort zone by making them evil being that was not there true identity before. Upon realizing that the savagery they had obtained was only destroying themselves they “wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart”(202). The power that was developed by Jack impacts everyone and destroys all of the lives that rejected him. Piggy who was the most knowledgeable character and also the weakest character was often disrespected by Jack because he opposed Jack’s power and recognizes that his power not voted for. As as result, Piggy is killed by Jack’s own boys because they too have been impacted by brute force. They killed piggy just like how they hunted pigs. Next, Simon's death reflects the rejections of religion and the idea that the
It’s one of the most famous stories to ever exist, the story of how two people changed what defines us as humans. It’s the story of Adam, Eve, a serpent, and the unbecoming of mankind, the Fall of Man. This iconic account has been the premise for many works over the centuries. Today, Lord of the Flies by William Golding is considered one of the most influential novels of our time, not only for its adventurous story of stranded boys on a lost island, but also because of its allegorical tale of the true fault in man’s soul. William Golding leans heavily upon the Biblical account of the Fall of Man to highlight man’s depravity in his novel, Lord of the Flies.
On my essay I will be writing about the book Lord of the flies. This book is written and narrated by William Golding. The setting of this story is in WW2. Where a bunch of kids are flying to a country but get shot down on the way. They manage to get to a nearby island where they get their bearings. The main characters are Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon. Then there are the little kids A.K.A the “littluns”.
The power that makes the loss in innocence also occurs in the writings. “‘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. (44)” In The Lord of the Flies, children put the fire in half of the island. Since there are no adults to punish them, they feel the awe at the power that have set them free and that causes the loss in innocence. “Ralph, camed away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it (114).” Ralph was the leader and he was civilized. Indeed, he was innocent as well as the boys on the island. However, they turned savage when they don’t have adults to control them. “However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick (103).” Simon is one of the most innocent boy in this book.
In the end, they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives of Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear. Initially, the boys carried on about in a civilized, systematic and fearless manner when first landing on the island. Ralph has just blown the conch and some small children responded to the sound by gathering at the source of the sound.
“I think that’s the real loss of innocence: the first time you glimpse the boundaries that will limit your potential” (Steve Toltz). In the previous quote, Steve Toltz discusses the transition from innocence to corruption. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies illustrates the loss of innocence through various characters: Jack, who struggles with pride and a thirst for power; Roger, who revels in the pain of others and uses fear to control the boys; Simon, who represents the demise of purity when humans are at their most savage; Ralph, who illustrates the struggle people endure when attempting to be civilized near the savage; and Piggy, who suffers because he has the only technology necessary to survive. Golding enforces the theory that true innocence will often pay the price to sustain true evil by arranging the characters' personalities and actions in a way that correlates to the effects of Darwin's evolution theory, "survival of the fittest" (). Jack is a good example of this as he exerts power over the weak and uses his skills in hunting to survive. The thirst to prove his masculinity overrides his innate purity, effectively corrupting him. Jack’s loss of innocence begins a domino effect that begins to influence the others.
... people are out in the wild, and also have no civilization or government to keep their evil suppressed. At the very end of the book when the boys are rescued Golding writes, “ His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that 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” (202). In this quote Ralph is crying because he has now lost all of his innocence that he once had before he got on that horrible island, due to everything that has happened on the island. He is also crying because he had just lost his friend Piggy because of the savagery acts of the boys and now he realizes how evil everyone is.
The murder of Simon makes Ralph realize that what they did was wrong. The death of Simon was symbolic. Not only does it show parallels between a christ-like figure, for example, Jesus and that they both died knowing the truth, but it shows that there is no more goodness and that everyone has turned to savagery. The goal of civilization and order reaches a low point when Piggy’s glasses are stolen, another symbol of civilization. Ralph and what’s left of his group decide to take the conch to Jack’s group to remind them the most important thing is to create the fire to be rescued; this slowly leads to redemption for Ralph. This is similar to the character, Thomas, in The Maze Runner where they both betrayed, not only their friends, but themselves as well. Ralph betrays his beliefs in order and civilization when he joins Jack and Thomas betrays both his friends and himself when he realized he was actually helping the opponent. They both redeem themselves by being fully committed to what they believe in: for Ralph, not giving up on civilization and order and for Thomas, to forget the past and focus on defeating the
Loss of innocence occurs throughout the novel. Piggy realizes the change between innocence and savagery when he questions, “What are we? Human? Or animal? Or savages?” (Golding 79). Simon soon follows when he states, “What I mean is…...maybe it’s only us” (Golding 89). Both boys realize the true beast is the group and they end up paying for the uncontrolled actions of others with their lives. The drastic change between civilization on the island causes the group to become savage and feed off of violence. When Golding writes, “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” (Golding 202), Ralph shows his understanding that they need adult authority in their lives and Piggy was the one trying to warn him. Ralph starts to think, “The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away” (Golding 91), when the group starts to lose innocence along with civilization. The late realization adds to the theme of civilization vs savagery and drives the plot to loss of
At first the boys are living up life playing and messing around even though they still follow the rules. Soon enough Ralph and Piggy get worried about Jack and the rest if his hunters behaviors. Ralph begins to like Piggy’s sense of maturity he carries himself with. One day a ship passes by the island but didn't notice them due to the fire dying out. Piggy blames Jack which causes them to fight. This is when the group starts to split up and realise they see things differently. However, they attempt to move to the top of the mountain with Jack because they fear him. They believe their is a beast on the island even though Jack keeps telling them their isn’t. Every time their is a noise or something in the night they believe that's what that is. Ralph decides that it is best to head back to the beach just in case there is a beast but Jack decides to go make a fort at the destroyed castle. Jack heads back to Ralph's camp and offered the rest of the boys to come to his new better tribe where they can live life to the fullest. All the boys leave except for Piggy who believes that Ralph is still better. Simon during this whole thing is hallucinating in the jungle and passes
As soon as Ralph calls the others on the island, the boys create a civilization with the characteristics of the societies they knew back at home. They elect a leader to serve as governance, Jack’s choir boys are made hunters to serve as the labor union, the boys attempt to create a distress signal system through the signal fire, and Ralph creates rules similar to those that dictate them at home. The boys may forget their jobs and specific tasks, but Ralph blows the conch, and they meet, reminding them of the task at hand. However, as tensions rise between Ralph and Jack, the group begins to disintegrate, refusing to listen to Ralph or obey the rules set in place. At this point, the conch loses much of its significance, a fact Ralph is well aware of. He refuses to overuse the conch, fearing he might disband the group altogether (Golding 92). As a result, the hunters stop maintaining the fire, which was their original assignment, and begin to do whatever they feel like, namely hunting pigs. In the scenes where the boys hunt, the development of their savagery can be clearly noted. Their hunts progress from hunting pigs for meat, to torturing pigs for fun (Golding 135-136), to murdering Simon (Golding 152), to hunting Ralph and planning to treat him just like the pig. It is just before the hunt for Ralph that the conch is destroyed. This milestone indicates the crossover from civility to total savagery of Jack’s
What I found most interesting about The Lord of the Flies was the William Golding’s decision to use male children as the main characters. He easily could have written the same book with male adults, but he decided to use young children to explore human nature, even what we consider the most innocent human nature, that of a child. It would make far more sense to most authors to use grown men on the island. After all, it would almost be expected in our culture that adults would revert to some sort of primal nature when stranded on an island together. Adults in our society are considered to be world-worn, battle scarred beings. Adults are thought to have lost their innocent, child-like thoughts somewhere along the way when the real world came crashing upon their shoulders. Children, however, are the peak of innocence.
As said about nurturing young adolescents, “You cannot create a genius, all you can do is nurture one” - Ninette de Valois. We can only be nurtured into so many things, the rest is the natural instinct of nature. The novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and Lord of The Flies by William Golding all show characters who lose their Innocence. Jem loses his innocence after the Tom Robinson trial. Jack loses his innocence when he goes from killing pigs for survival to killing pigs for his own good. Macbeth loses his innocence when he goes from killing people for protection to killing people for his own good. Macbeth and Jack have a bad loss of innocence because it turns them into savages along the way. Jem had a good way of losing his innocence. He gained something good from losing his innocence, he gained the feeling of empathy. He gained the feeling of putting himself in others shoes. As we grow up we are being nurtured into doing things that some people might consider right or even wrong.