Innocence In Lord Of The Flies

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Sands of Innocence It is pretty safe to say that children are associated with innocence. They have not been exposed to the world for that long and do not usually act upon evil desires. However, in the novel Lord of the Flies, the boys' childlike innocence quickly disappears. The sand in this novel symbolizes the boys' innocence and society's expectations for children versus the boys' individual minds. At the beginning of the novel, the boys are enjoying the island and participating in care-free activities. They behave like children, and play around in their new environment. As "Ralph danced out into the hot air of the beach and then returned as a fighter-plane", he acts like a child, pretending, playing, and having fun (Golding, William 11). He does not worry about finding food, water, shelter, or any other people on the island, instead he becomes absorbed by the warmth and comfort of the sand. As he plays on the beach, his possible fears drift away and he focuses on entertaining himself and being happy.…show more content…
A few of the littluns have "built castles in the sand...decorated with shells" (59). Sand castles are commonly built by children, a task that easily entertains them. Even among the fear that is circulating the island, the younger boys still "[find] time for play, aimless and trivial, in the white sand" (59). At this point, the idea of evil and fear has begun to corrupt the boys. While the boys are playing in the sand, Roger and Maurice "[lead] the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers" (60). These destructive boys represent the evil and fear that is corrupting the island, as they tear through the children's sand castles, it is like they are destroying their
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