Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Other than Ralph, who are two other characters that lose their innocence in the novel Lord of the Flies, and what are some examples to prove it?

Aside from Ralph, the characters of Maurice and Roger also lose their innocence throughout the novel Lord of the Flies. At the beginning of the novel Maurice is portrayed as a funny, helpful boy. In Chapter 2, Maurice helps the boys gather driftwood for the fire, and in Chapter 5 he makes the boys laugh to cheer them up towards the end of a depressing meeting. Roger is also viewed as a helpful, positive character...

Aside from Ralph, the characters of Maurice and Roger also lose their innocence throughout the novel Lord of the Flies. At the beginning of the novel Maurice is portrayed as a funny, helpful boy. In Chapter 2, Maurice helps the boys gather driftwood for the fire, and in Chapter 5 he makes the boys laugh to cheer them up towards the end of a depressing meeting. Roger is also viewed as a helpful, positive character at the beginning of the novel. In Chapter 1, Roger is the first to suggest that the boys choose their leader via a vote, and in Chapter 2 he also partakes in gathering driftwood for the signal fire. The boys' behavior is innocent because they are acting civilly and have not yet partaken in savage acts.

There are several critical moments throughout the novel that depict Maurice and Roger's decent into savagery and loss of innocence. In Chapter 4, Maurice and Roger are walking past the littluns building sandcastles on the beach, when Roger begins destroying the sandcastles. Maurice follows along and begins kicking down the sandcastles. Maurice "felt the unease at his wrongdoing" because in his old life he would have been chastised for ruining the boys' sandcastles. (Golding 60) Later on in Chapter 4, Roger begins to throw stones at Henry, but purposely misses. Roger purposely missing is significant because it depicts the remnants of civility still left in his memory, and his remaining innocence, which is waning.  

After joining Jack's savage group of hunters, Maurice becomes so involved that he suggest the boys use a drum for ceremoniously slaughtering pigs. In Chapter 10, Maurice has completely descended into barbarism, and he accompanies Jack and Roger to steal Piggy's glasses. Roger turns into a sadist by the end of the novel, and there are several scenes that portray his brutal behavior. In Chapter 8, Roger viciously stabs the pig up its rear and laughs about it, and in Chapter 11 Roger rolls a boulder, killing Piggy. Maurice and Roger's participation in savage acts and support for Jack's tyrannical leadership prove they have completely lost their innocence.

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