Lord of the Flies Loss of Innocence

Reading the classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, readers are faced with a journey to outwit characters, facing gruesome murders and battles to becoming a stronger leader. Many of the children who were stranded on the island did not know what would become of them. It took four boys, Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon along with three items, the conch shell, a pair of glasses, and Castle Rock, to decide their fate. Who will outlast the other before the fire signals a rescue ship? When stranded on an island fighting for power seems exceeded, while loss of innocence was extreme, and loss of identity could become fatal; these three major themes are what brought the reader into the fight for survival in Lord of the Files.
A taste of power can quickly take hold of the mind, causing it to do unspeakable things. In Lord of the Files, fight for power is between Jack and Ralph. Both want to become leader over the boys, but Ralph was hand chosen while Jack wasn’t. Jack was so blood thirsty for power that he would kill anyone or do anything to gain leadership. Through out the whole book, Ralph held power when ever he handled the conch shell. If anyone held the conch, he could speak or give his own opinion. Jack mocks the idea of needing a shell to withhold power, Jack himself prefers to use force. The whole book is dealt with the theme of power. It seems that every character had to face power in some way. Even Piggy, he was repeatedly tormented by jack, having tension. The theme power was poison to Ralph and Jacks mind until the very end.
The loss of innocence may prove to be an outcome of what kind of man a person is to become. All the characters had to deal with the unknown death of the little boy with a birthmark down his face, it was the first death within the group of boys. Jack’s big losses of innocence was his first kill. This was the start of the turning point with him, he liked the feeling of bloodshed. It made him want to continue hunting more and more.