All things truly wicked start from an innocence; the innocence of children, the innocence of the hopeful and the innocence of the naive. Comparing the two main characters from Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Jack and Ralph, we try to understand the true sense of Ralph’s innocence which was stifled on the island, and the innocence within Jack which had been lost way before his arrival on the island. Golding introduces the truly innocent character of Ralph as the story begins and the young boy is elected to lead the boys under him to a good life on the island and a hopeful rescue in the near future.
His careless and idealistic attitude projects the true innocence of a child as children see most things around them ideally, being oblivious and overlooking the negatives. Ralph’s innocence is intact and pure as he leads the boys confidently and idealistically for some time. The character of Jack however projects a previous loss of innocence when we meet him on the island, as we witness his offensive remarks, and though we see no wickedness yet, it is soon to come.
It is obvious that the once innocent Jack had an experience which made him see the world in a more negative point of view than intended and through the novel; this presumption disappears as we see exactly how his innocence is destroyed. Humans lose their innocence as they grow older, as they witness new things, as the boys witnessed on the island, which changed their point of view on the world and human society forever. Ralph turned to his power as chief on the island to keep himself innocent and sane, which managed to work for a while, but his innocence was still being taken away little by little.
The Term Paper on Fat Boy Ralph Boys Jack
... the boys get used to island life. Ralph and Simon work on shelters and Jack hunts. Ralph confronts Jack on not killing anything. Ralph sees that Jack's energy ... sums up the theme of the novel. The end of innocence is the removal of the layers of respectability, compassion, logic, ... sad. In a way, I got somewhat attached to the characters and when they died it hurt. Piggy who represented intelligence ...
As he witnesses Jack hunt and as he comes to the understanding of what the piece of meat is in front of him his innocence begins to wither away, as does Jack’s. At Jack’s first chance to kill a pig he is resistant and unable to do it as he is still innocent in some sense, and innocence does not associate with murder. Not only is it through the killing of the pig that causes Jack’s innocence to drift, but it is also through his rise to power. Ralph uses his power to maintain stability and innocence, but through power Jack loses his innocence more and more. The final loss of innocence appears through the death of the Simon.
Jack’s innocence vanishes the very moment he violently touches Simon, along with the other boys. By the end of the attack which resulted in death, Jack’s wickedness is seen in the form of a dead body of the once innocent and hopeful boy Simon. This event indicates the final disappearance of Jack’s innocence as it takes him from a mistaken, lost boy, to a brutal, wicked man. After the death of Simon, Ralph is no longer seen as an innocent character, but the reasoning is different. To cope with the death of the spirit full Simon Ralph is forced to grow up quickly.
This death gives Ralph a sense of bitterness and wickedness as the evils of the world shack him out of innocence. Through both Jack and Ralph we see that all things truly wicked sprout from and innocence, as we watch the previously innocent character of Lord of the Flies lose their innocence and turn to wicked actions. Innocence was lost due to the gain of power, killing of animals and loss of human lives. The original personalities of innocence are engulfed by the bitter and wicked personalities, changing the naive island boys into wicked savages.
