Innocence in Lord of the Flies

Innocence is lost when people behave in a manner that they might not have behaved otherwise; it is contributed to by the need for human survival and the nature of the savagery that is taking place. Jack’s behaviour towards making an organised community lacks effort and the desire to be rescued, which helps establish the loss of decency in their community. We begin to get indications of the horrendous consequences early in the text but at this pivotal point Jack’s hands were tied by the law and order that Ralph had tried to put into place. Once Jack is successful in getting more boys into his group, he starts develop arrogance towards the rules and starts to lose his virtuousness. Jack’s first step in losing innocence was when he killed the pig, this is how his mental state was described, “mind crowded with memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on struggling pig…….imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink”. This quotation is from chapter four, it shows that Jack is rejoicing in the kill and is unable to think about anything because his mind is “crowded with memories”; Jack gets pride from not having food but from having “outwitted” another creature and “imposed” his will upon it. Golding connects Jack’s excitement with the feeling of power and superiority that Jack experiences in killing the pig. Therefore, it is fair to say that Jack’s immoral behaviour was due to his will of gaining power and dictatorship upon others on the island, which eventually led him to losing his innocence.

Innocence comes to an end when there is no moral leader to guide there and we quickly degenerate into brutal beasts, increasing amounts of violence leads to sinful acts of revenge. Roger is a perfect exemplar of that; he is a sadistic boy who wants power because he likes the idea of hurting others. He does not start his inhumane acts all at once; he starts off with destroying the “littleuns’” sandcastles and throwing...