Lord of the Flies

Trace the archetypal movements from innocence to experience for Ralph in this novel.

What message is conveyed to society?

Proof details.

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

This is really only a short answer space and your question is quite detailed but I can make a general comment. At the end of Lord of the Flies, Ralph weeps "for the end of innocence," a lament that retroactively makes explicit one of the novel's major concerns, namely, the loss of innocence. When the boys are first deserted on the island, they behave like children, alternating between enjoying their freedom and expressing profound homesickness and fear. By the end of the novel, however, they mirror the warlike behavior of the adults of the Home Counties: they attack, torture, and even murder one another without hesitation or regret. The loss of the boys' innocence on the island runs parallel to, and informs their descent into savagery, and it recalls the Bible's narrative of the Fall of Man from paradise. Ralph goes from a carefree boy in an adventure to a burdened disillusioned leader of boys who do not wished to be saved. Ralph loses his innocence, understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet.