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Innocence in Lord of the Flies

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Ernest Hemingway once said, "All things truly wicked start from innocence." This phrase can be proven true through the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In this novel, a group of young boys are dropped onto an uninhabited island during the war. They must hunt to survive, and establish rules and a leader so that their life on the island can run somewhat smoothly. Through The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows that when people must adapt and survive in difficult situations, they lose their innocence. One way the loss of innocence is seen is through the rules not being followed because there is no one to enforce them. We can see this through the conch shell. The boys designate a conch shell as an item of importance; anyone holding the conch has the right to speak and people not holding the conch must be quiet and listen. As the boys begin to disagree on more subjects and the assemblies become more chaotic, the significance of the conch and the amount of people who obey it begins to dwindle. Jacks says, “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things" (Golding 101/102). The way that Jack says “any more” shows that while they once needed the conch, they no longer do and demonstrates the rules dwindling and not being followed. As the natural born-leaders begin to emerge, the rules made in consideration for the quiet are lost. That is seen when he says “we know who ought to say things”. He is implying that some boys should not have the right to speak or give their opinions, and the first of which that comes to mind being Piggy. Another example of the rules becoming less important is the unimportance and disagreement of who is the chief. Initially, the boys elect Ralph as their chief but Jack being the leader and tyrant that he is, he often disagrees and tries to take the position. " ‘And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing-’ ‘I'm [Ralph] chief. I was chosen.’ ‘Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense-’ ”(Golding 91). Jack is always telling people to “shut up”, which shows a lack of respect for the other boys and that he does not care to hear what they are saying. He only feels that his input is important, which means he disregards Ralph, the leader’s, opinions as well. It is also clear that he sees himself as the most qualified to be chief, since he says “you can’t hunt, you can’t sing-” which are two skills that Jack possesses and apparently sees necessary for a leader. Additionally, its coherent that Jack disagrees with Ralph’s way of leading and the directions he gives when he says “Just giving orders that don’t make any sense-”. Lastly, we see the loss of rules through the crimes and sins that the boys commit. When Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and his tribe members are arguing over Piggy’s glasses, Roger is on top of a perch with a large boulder held back by a lever. The boys continue to bicker, and Roger loses all sense of morals and pulls the lever, dropping the rock onto Piggy and killing him. "High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever. The rock struck Piggy a

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