Lord of the Flies Madison fike

Childish Innocence

In the book Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, the kids on the island lose their child-like innocence over time. The savagery that takes over civilized children has them question their morals. When the littleuns mention the possibilty of a beast lurking in the shadows, the bigger kids make fun of this ridiculous imaginary item; however, with enough talk, the older kids start to really consider the possibilty that there is a scary being watching them. For example, Piggy, a rather philosphical character, suggests, "Maybe there is a beast...maybe it's only us." The boys start to fear this mysterious being and adapt to the puzzling feeling. Some boys, such as Ralph, look to civilization as a way of keeping this orderly innocence they landed on the island with. Although, other children on the island, such as Jack, choose to turn back to a hunter-gatherer mindset that has always existed within every human being. Jack starts to seperate himself from the idea of being rescued and convinces a group of adherents to live off of the idea of hunting and killing pigs. This very similar to the book Impulse, written by Ellen Hopkins, where an example of innocence being lost is found within the stories of the main 3 characters. These characters are Vanessa, Conner, and Tony. These three children have been admitted to a mental institute in the desert ridden Aspen Springs. Vanessa, Conner, and Tony all understand that in order to survive in such a place, they need to shed their childhood innocence. For example, Vanessa and Tony often get by their troubles with self-inflicted pain. Throughout the book we hear things such as, "One cut or more? That's the first thought to grab hold of my brain and give it a rattle. Was this charming little thing into self-mutilation, or shopping for a coffin." Self-inflicted pain is something they describe as an escape from the child-like innocence adults try to oppress on them.

Friends and Foes with no Escape

Lord of the Flies takes place on an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean with no escape. The setting in Impulse revolves around an Aspen Springs mental institute near the countryside of Tahoe. In Lord of the Flies, the boys explain they have explored all there is to see on the island and that there is nothing but an ongoing sea. Much like the island, the mental institute is encompassed by a never-ending desert which allows no escape. The nearst all characters get to civilization is the actions and thoughts of others around them. At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, every child from all walks of the island gather around when they hear the conch. The meeting is called by Ralph and then establishes the primary need for working together and having each other's backs if they plan on getting off the island any time soon. Similarly so, when Vanessa, Conner, and Tony meet, they all come to the general conclusion that kids their age need to stick together and help each other in order to escape the blank walls of the institute.

The blade and the Lord of the Flies

In both books, the blade used to part skin and the lord of the flies respresent a very dark aspect of human behavior. They both respresent the darkness that festers with every human soul. The message is put in place to explain that while we may learn to be civilized human beings, our dark human savagery comes naturally to us already. For example, the pig head has a discussion with Simon about the evil that lies within the heart of each boy on the island including Simon himself. Along with the Lord of the flies, the blade used in Impulse acts as a reminder that each kid is festering with their inner demons that take control over how they function around others. An example of this in Lord of the Flies is when Simon comes running out of the forest and all the kids in the group beat him to a pulp because they think he is the beast. Or, in Impulse, when Vanessa joins Tony and Conner after a removal from the regular facility because she had relapsed in cutting herself. She immediately starts to act as a different human being with an even more sour outlook on life and how it should be dealt with.

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