Lord Of The Flies Loss Of Innocence Quotes

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In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding develops the loss of innocence theme in three ways. The first way he shows this is the clothing choices. In the beginning of the novel, the boys wear clothes that associates themselves as being school boys. Before long, most of the boys are barely clothed, even going as far as painting their faces while hunting the pig. “The mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness," (Golding, pg. 64). The stark difference between the choir robes and the face paint represents the savagery coming out of the boys. The second way Golding shows this theme is by the way the boys react to hunting. When the boys encounter a piglet in chapter one, Jack could not …show more content…
This shows how he has lost his innocence because he goes from being scared to feeling joy while hunting. The final way the theme of loss of innocence is portrayed is by the deaths that occur. The first boy who dies is the littlun, dying because of an accident with the fire. Though sad, it is far from the brutality shown through Simon’s death. "Surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea." (Golding, pg.154). Even though they mistaked Simon for the beast, the boys still brutally slaughtered him. Simon represented the love and innocence on the island, but because of his death, those characteristics were overruled by the savagery and chaos by the other boys. While Simon’s death was brutal, it was not done intentionally; however, Piggy’s death was. Even after Roger dropped the rock on Piggy, the only one who felt any remorse was Ralph, as shown in this quote: "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,