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Lord of the flies character theory essay
Character analysis essay lord of the flies
Concepts of loss of innocence
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Innocence Lost
Does anyone really know when they lose their innocence? Sometimes, other times it flies right by some people like the kids in the lord of the flies and Maria in I only came to use the phone. The boys in the lord of the flies and Maria in I only came to use the phone were innocent and haven’t completely lost it yet and had no idea that they were about to lose it. A little group of the boys started to disregard their duties showing they care less about being rescued. When Maria sees more of the Sanatorium and what happens inside it she starts to lose herself because of everything she’s seeing. Dehumanization and the loss of innocence is big in the part of Lord of the Flies where jack “creates his hunters. Innocence is the biggest part of human nature and once it’s lost you can’t get it back.
The boys in The Lord of the Flies were innocent and they didn’t even know it was coming to an end. This quote shows that they were making plans to stay alive and prepare to possibly get rescued which they held on to this hope of being rescued. “We’ve got to decide about being rescued.” Jack said this and it was kind of an oxymoron for he would later love the isolation and not want to be rescued, this quote shows that even he wanted to be rescued. Ralph and Piggy are the two characters that wanted to be rescued all throughout the story and they hold on to the thought of being rescued.
Maria from I only came to use the phone, she was innocent and hasn’t lost it yet and like the boys from Lord of the Flies didn’t know she was about too. This quote shows how Maria was put in a Sanatorium by accident, “The bus was entering the cobbled courtyard of an enormous, gloomy building that seemed to ...
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...asked for it and even if she did they wouldn’t do anything because they all thought that she was an inmate and as mentally damaged as the other inmates. So because she was in a Sanatorium everyone thought she was insane and wouldn’t help her if she asked for it. Maria lost her innocence because of all the things that happened to her and knowing that she could not be helped made it too much. These characters show how they lost their innocence because of what they were put through and now they will never get it back. This is why innocence is an important part of human nature because it takes so much for it to be gone and after it was gone these characters would no longer have it again.
Works Cited
Book
William Golding/ Lord of the Flies/ Parker, CO/ Gale Group Inc./ September, 1954
Short Story
Gabriel Garcia Marquez/ I only came to use the phone/1992
Analyzing innocence has always been a difficult task, not only due to it’s rapid reevaluation in the face of changing societal values, but also due to the highly private and personal nature of the concept. The differences between how people prioritize different types of innocence - childhood desires, intellectual naivety, sexual purity, criminal guilt, etc. - continually obscures the definition of innocence. This can make it difficult for people to sympathize with others’ loss of purity, simply because their definition of that loss will always be dissimilar to the originally expressed idea. Innocence can never truly be adequately described, simply because another will never be able to precisely decipher the other’s words. It is this challenge, the challenge of verbally depicting the isolationism of the corruption of innocence, that Tim O’Brien attempts to endeavour in his fictionalized memoir, The
For instance, the denial from Ralph and Jack leads the boys to make decisions that caused havoc to their society on this island. As they; Ralph, Jack and the boys engrossed the island, they simultaneously lost hope. Such as, Simon says to Ralph, “You’ll get back to where you came from” (111). Ralph tries telling the boys they are going to get rescued. But as days pass and how long they have been on the island, he is undetermined. Jack, on the other hand, does not believe that being rescued will ever occur. He tells the boys it is hopeless of them to think they can get out of the island. Furthermore, not only did they deny being rescued, but Ralph and Jack do not acknowledge the deaths of Simon and Piggy. For example, as stated in the book. “The breaking of the conch and the deaths of Piggy and Simon lay over the island like a vapor” (184). However, Ralph does acknowledge a bit of Simon’s and Piggy’s death, but afterwards he forgot due to Jack and his tribe willing to go after him. As to Jack, he was neglectful about th...
Even though this meant that she would not be able to see or interact with her children for all that time. The pain that she feels is evident when she says, “ At last I heard the merry laugh of children, and presently two sweet little faces were looking up at me, as though they knew I were there, and were conscious of the joy that imparted. How I longed to tell them I was there”(97). She tolerated being locked away in an enclosed dark space for 7 long years in order to free her children from the current master that owned them as slaves, showing how having someone to put ahead of yourself makes you stronger and more resilient as a
Unfortunately, Maria is constantly aware of the children missing from her life and is border-lining depression. Didion shows readers many symptoms of Maria’s depression throughout the novel. For example, the narrator says “When she got home she thought about calling him [Les Goodwin], but instead she went upstairs and lay face down on Kate’s empty bed, cradled Kate’s blanket, clutched Kate’s baby pillow to her stomach and fought off a wave of the dread” (Didion 23). It is obvious that Maria is depressed; however, she cannot confide in anyone. She cannot confide in Carter because he is emotionally distant nor can she confide in her lover Les Goodwin because he is a married man. Thus, leading to Maria becoming self-destructive and unintentionally seeking an identity. For example after a party, Maria “was stopped for speeding outside Tonopah and when the highway patrolman saw the silver dress and the bare feet and the Ferrari registered to someone else” the officer found out it was indeed stolen ( Didion 154). Didion creatively shows readers that Maria is acting out unintentionally because of her lack of control over life. In fact, someone who was in his or her right mind would have not stolen a car from a famous person like the one Maria did. The people in Maria’s life Maria’s notices there is a problem and start to worry about her well-being. This is shown when
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.
One of the greatest emotions that controls the way any person thinks in certain situations, especially in Lord of the Flies, is fear. The fact that except Jack, all of the boys are younger than thirteen, greatly affects the amount of fear that controlled them, and from there it is easy to ascertain how the fear of being alone, in an unknown area was the first to take affect on the boys. For the Littleuns, the fear of being alone, influences the behaviour and attitudes. The cry for home', for the "old life" for their predicament. This is personified by their fear of the beast.
The others on the island could not leave behind the past where they could only see and refused to do anything other than take what is given to them as fact. In Lord of the Flies making connections beyond what is normally seen is a common theme demonstrated when Piggy is murdered for being logical, when Ralph is hunted over power, and when Simon can see past the fear of the ‘beast’. These three characters show that if one has great ideas one also needs the public to listen. Believing in a cause, even if you are ridiculed for it by your peers, demonstrates the skills of an admirable
"All things truly wicked start from an innocence,” states Ernest Hemingway on his view of innocence. Innocence, what every youth possesses, is more accurately described as a state of unknowing but not ignorance- which connotation suggests a blissfully positive view of the world. Most youth are protected from the harsh realities of the adult world. Therefore they are able to maintain their state of innocence. While innocence normally wanes over time, sometimes innocence can be abruptly taken away. Some of the characters in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood lost their innocence due to the traumatic events they experienced in childhood and adulthood while some had none to begin with.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies a group of kids who are fleeing a war, plane crashes and they are stranded on a deserted island without Adult supervision. The first thing all the kids do is vote for a chief and Ralph, who is more responsible, wins over Jack. They are the choices because Ralph is the Colonel of the whole group and Jack is the oldest out of all the boys. As the story goes on and when Jack starts his own group all of the kids lose sight of their main goal, to be rescued. They're all having too much fun when they switch over to Jack's group hunting and killing for food. In the story there are four main characters that are in a sense the leaders of the crew. There's Piggy and a quiet Simon who do not possess the scrappiness that Ralph and Jack do. These strengths are what help Ralph and Jack survive. Piggy is always talking about how his Auntie would not let him do this or that and Simon was just a quiet, reserved kid who is regarded as weird just due to the fact that he is calm.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Simon and Piggy are among a group of boys who become stranded on a deserted island. Left without any adults, the boys attempt to create an orderly society. However, as the novel progresses, the boys struggle to sustain civility. Slowly, Jack and his hunters begin to lose sight of being rescued and start to act more savagely, especially as fears about a beast on the island spread. As the conflict progresses, Jack and Ralph battle for power. The boys’ struggle with the physical obstacles of the island leads them to face a new unexpected challenge: human nature. One of the boys, Simon, soon discovers that the “beast” appears not to be something physical, but a flaw within all humans
The goal of any person stranded in an island is surviving. These boys are well aware of this goal and know they must stick with the leader that will help them survive the longest. The options these boys have for possible leaders are Ralph and Jack. On one hand, Ralph is focused on building a signal fire to be rescued. On the other hand, Jack focuses on settling on the island by providing food and protection.QUOTE OF BOYS NOT CARING FOR BEING RESCUED The biological factor that encourages these boys to follow the orders of Jack is the fact that the majority of the boys have little to no hope of being rescued. They probably believe that Jack can keep them alive for a long time on the island by providing protection against the beast everyone talks
Often, too much power can go to that particular person’s head, and he/she can become corrupt. As readers have seen in literature, abuses of power are often harmful to the abuser and their subjects. Corrupted authority and abuses of power eventually lead to the collapse of society. This concept is shown many times throughout the novel Lord Of the Flies and the short story “I Only Came to Use the Phone”. Displayed through characters and actions, abusive power has dominated what should be morally correct in literature.
Cofer starts off her personal narrative with a story about her bus trip to London. There, she faces a drunk man who goes down on his knees and starts to sing “Maria” as he spots her. Then, Cofer continues her story by saying,
Innocence is usually associated with youth and ignorance. The loss of one’s innocence is associated with the evils of the world. However, the term “innocence” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Similarly, the loss of one’s innocence can be interpreted in more than one way, and, depending on the interpretation, it may happen numerous times. The loss of innocence is culture specific and involves something that society holds sacrosanct.
The boys on the island in Lord of The Flies lost all hope,