Childhood In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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“The boys were falling still and silent, feeling the beginnings of awe at the power set free below them” (Golding 210). This quote depicts British schoolboys’ discovery of power as they were stranded on an island in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies. The boys struggled with the idea of learning how to survive, as well as facing the dangers that they encountered. For a period of time during their childhood, their only focus was on these aspects of life as opposed to the normal struggles of a schoolboy. Childhood is represented in this novel as a time of tribulation and of discovering the power they didn’t know existed inside them. First and foremost, Golding’s choice to use children in this novel is significant because it conveys…show more content…
The stereotypical British person is raised to be prim, proper, and polite at all times, and these boys were no exception. They are used to having every part of their life decided for them: their clothes, their actions. When forced onto the island, the boys threw all this away since there were no adults around to tell them what is wrong or right, even though they knew the difference. The older boys on the island were fully aware of the situation they were in, Ralph especially. He knew they would have to maintain many of the important lessons they had been taught to remain alive and well while stranded on the island. But because of their age, many of the schoolboys saw this as an opportunity to have fun while there were no adults supervising them. The character Jack, although he was one of the older boys, also used his time by only focusing on hunting and fooling around instead of trying to remain civil within the group. Jack’s actions are seen as acceptable, because that’s what children are supposed to do. They should be able to have fun and enjoy themselves. But this was an occasion when the children were forced to grow up much more quickly than they would have otherwise. The only order they had on the island was created and maintained by the boys themselves. Some of them have a desire to maintain a civilization, while others

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