Coming of Age

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that focuses on a group of young British schoolboys whose plane crashed on a deserted island and they are the only survivors. The book travels throughout their success and failures as a group. Throughout the book, the boys have to make decisions that they wouldn’t usually do at home. The island forces them to act more mature and this causes a loss of innocence. The more dire the situation is for a child, the more they are at a loss for their innocence.

Simon was one of the main characters in the book. He is portrayed as innocent and kind to the other boys. He is the only one to see the paratrooper is what they have mistake for the beast. While he is still in the forest, Ralph has conducted the boys into a dance group. Caught up in the frenzy surrounded by darkness and rain under the influence of hunger, the boys kill Simon, which they mistake for the beast. Later on, Piggy says, “There's them on this island as would laugh at anything. And what happened? What's grown-ups goin' to think? Young Simon was murdered.” (158) Piggy says it bluntly to the boys. Once the job has been done, there is no turning back. This quote establishes that to the rest of the bunch. If the boys weren’t on this island, there isn’t much of a chance they would compose a murder spree. Living on the island for so long distorts their minds. They lose their sense of reality. Once the sense of reality is fading, all rules are gone. “Grown ups” aren’t there to scold them or place them in jail so there aren’t consequences. In their home life, they would still be locked in their innocence where there are consequences to be dealt with when mistakes are made.  It’s more than just killing a pig, they took a human’s life. This was a big step in losing their innocence.

Anne Frank is a big symbol of innocence in crucial circumstances. She went into hiding during World War II and kept a diary to document her time and thoughts. Maturing and innocence was a topic that was highly discussed. She was torn between wanting to fulfill her time as a teenager, but noticing the effects of the war affecting her. In one entry she writes, “Sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I’m Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good plain fun.”(12/24/1943.3). Anne spent a great deal of time trapped away in the  security of an annex in a home in Germany. Nazi Germany to Anne is like the island for the boys. There is no way of escaping. The Nazis are Anne’s grown ups. They have all power over her and live on the outside world. Anne explores the thought of her not only being a Jewish girl in hiding. She wants to be young carefree teenager but is forced to mature faster under the war. One part of Anne is a war victim and the other is a teenager. She is torn between two personas. One she is becoming, and one she is/wants to be. The boys are like Anne in the sense that they still have their innocence in them, but events on the island are maturing them. They can’t help but transform. Survival depends on them developing into more mature teenagers.

At the end of the book, the boys paint their faces in tribal paint to get ready to hunt. The narrator says,  “The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him.” (119) This scene portrays the boys as a tribe with a leader. They look strong. In the next chapter, they are found by a naval officer.  The narrator says, “The boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands, were standing on the beach making no noise at all.” (219) The island made them into savages, but when exposed to an adult not from the island, they are boys. They all saw each other as wild tribesmen with painted faces but behind their gilded appearance were young schoolboys. The transition from the island to reality is shown here. Once brought back into reality by the naval officer, they are in their innocence once again. When they return back home, their personalities will return back to normal. But their time on the island will always stay with them. The death of Simon and Piggy will always be remembered along with all of their struggles. Their innocence will return, but the island will affect their growth of maturity.

Children in Syria are currently living through a war. A BBC journalist, Lyse Doucet, traveled to Syria to follow six Syrian children. The children play in flooded bomb craters and tanks. One child, Ezadine, age twelve, tells Doucet, “I'm only a child in age and appearance. But in terms of morals and humanity, I'm not. In the past, a 12-year-old was considered young, but not now. Now, at 12 years, you must go for jihad." Ezadine understands the length of mental growth under the impact of the war at only nine years old. She knows she looks her age, but knows in her heart that she is matured. Jihad is an Islamic term that means “struggling” or “striving”. A military jihad refers to protecting their faith against others. Ezadine, only twelve years old, pushed back her fear and was willing to stand up for her faith. The Syrian children can’t control the war like the boys can’t leave the island. They have no choice but to adapt and change. The boys are left to mature and try to make their own decisions like the Syrian children change to protect their religion. If there was no war, Ezadine would still act like normal twelve year old as would the boys if they were back in England.

When put under certain conditions, children and teenagers are forced to assimilate to a life they weren’t accustomed to before. The boys on the island went through similar situations like Anne Frank and the children in Syria. The boys adapted to new life and rules on the island like Anne Frank had to adjust to hiding. The children in Syria undergoing a war which changes their outlook on humanity and how they react to it. Children who are undergoing a struggle go through a change in their maturity.


Works Cited



Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 2006.


Doucet, Lyse. "No Place to Hide for Children of War in Gaza and Syria - BBC News." BBC News. 28 June 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.


Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Bantam, 1993.




Comments (2)

Tajnia Hussain (Student 2018)
Tajnia Hussain

This is amazing! I agree with your comparison of the children in Syria are experiencing the same as the children in LOTF.

I love this: When put under certain conditions, children and teenagers are forced to assimilate to a life they weren’t accustomed to before… The children in Syria undergoing a war which changes their outlook on humanity and how they react to it. Children who are undergoing a struggle go through a change in their maturity.

You explained the position of the Syrian children very well and it is touching to know that more people are realizing how much the children in need are going through.

Israh Mohammed (Student 2018)
Israh Mohammed
  1. I do agree with your comparison. I feel as though any kid put in the horrible situations they went through would be forced out of their childhood and mature too quickly.
  2. "The children in Syria undergoing a war which changes their outlook on humanity and how they react to it. Children who are undergoing a struggle go through a change in their maturity. "
  3. I really love those sentences, it gives a clear and firm message about what these kids are enduring and the outcome.