The Loss of Innocence in Lord of The Flies Essay

“I no longer believe that people are born without virtue. It gets beaten out. Misfortune threshes our souls as a flail threshes wheat, and the lightest parts of ourselves are scattered to the wind,” states Daniel Teller. This is a brilliant way to describe how life will make someone lose their purity. This motif is also represented in the novel, Lord of The Flies, written by William Golding. He displays the idea that kids lose their innocence from experiences, by using literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and imagery.

The loss of innocence is represented within symbols throughout the novel. One of the major symbols Golding includes is a conch, which represents unity and safety. The conch has become a gigantic part of the kids’ lives, it gives them a sense of protection,  “He moved the conch gently, looking beyond them at nothing, remembering the beastie, the snake, the fire, the talk of fear,” (82). In this example, the children cling to the conch and slowly lose their purity to the outside environment. The conch is what helped the kids get through their tough surroundings, in a sense, the shell is also representing their parents. This symbol relates back to the theme because by the end of the book the conch is destroyed just like their innocence as they’re lost to savagery.

William Golding uses a lot of cruel diction within the book, which adds to the message that experience deteriorates a child’s virtue. When the kids start dancing and brutally murdering Simon, Golding describes the setting in crude words. “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws,” (153). The wording chosen in this quote depicts the way the boys have transformed from children into savages and animal-like beings. Their experiences on the island have made them afraid, fighting for their lives, which kids shouldn’t have to do. Golding uses diction in a harsh but excellent way to accentuate the idea that children will change based on the conditions they’re put through.

The novel contains hopeful and light imagery to counter the darkness of the setting. The kids start to daydream about their old lives while resting in the sunny atmosphere. “They accepted the pleasures of morning, the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope was not necessary and therefore forgotten,” (58). The kids have survived the merciless circumstances of the island and have gotten used to them while also losing their innocence. The imagery depicted in this quote contradicts the dark environment of the island which shows how the kids view their surroundings and remember the lives they once had, they’re dealing with their stress by forgetting the outside. Golding uses this device to deepen the understanding of a child’s consciousness after being exposed to the rough atmospheres.

 Golding expresses the complex theme that children lose their innocence through time and experiences, by using devices such as foreshadowing, personification, and imagery. Lord of The Flies was created to get the message of loss of innocence out to the public and describe how kids become inhumane in a specific environment. William Golding wanted to alert parents that their children may lose their purity way faster if they experience events that lead to trauma.