When people are put in life or death situations their views and morals are put into the back of their brain, and they start to only think about living. The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a good example of this situation. When our main priority is physical survival we lose our innocence, empathy, and our conscience.
When our main priority is physical survival we lose our innocence. For instance, before the island the boys had never killed anything, but they realize they must hunt the pigs to stay alive. Jack comes back from a hunt and says proudly, “ I cut the pigs throat” (69). This shows that we lose our innocence when our main priority is living. Others may argue that not everyone will lose their innocence when a person is forced into survival mode. However, since food is necessary for survival, it would be very difficult to not kill any animals in the process. For example, after Piggy is killed by the rock, Jack, “[v]iciously, with full intention... hurled his spear at Ralph” (181). This shows that he is no …show more content…
This can be seen at the end of the story when the boys mistake Simon for the beast; and end up killing him. Jack and the tribe “screamed, struck, bit [and] tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (153). This is the opposite behavior of what a real hunter would do. Its easy to think about how they are just young kids, who havent experienced real life situations yet. But when you consider the amount of killing and harm they have done, their ages should not be a factor. For example, After the boys become familliar with hunting they start to take it less seriously. After one of the hunts the boys begin to chant, “[k]ill the pig! Cut his throat! Bash him in!” (114). This shows that the boys have lost their feelings of sorrow, and that hunting has become a game to them. These actions go against what any normal person would do in this