Loss of Innocence

Innocence is something that can only be lost once. Within both The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley there are various characters that lose their innocence in very dramatic ways. A character can lose their innocence due to the death of someone else. They can also lose their innocence by just being looked at from a different perspective by others, this can be seen through the characters Bernard and Rachel. ADD ANOTHER TOPIC Someone who has lost their innocence changes their personality and perspective on life, which results in them acting in situations differently than they would before.

"We went from children who were afraid of gunshots to now children who were gunshots… Shooting became just like drinking a glass of water" (Barnett, 2012). Ishmael Beah, the main character and writer of the novel A Long Way Gone is a clear example of the loss of innocence that war causes. During the Sierra Leone’s civil war, Beah is recruited as a child soldier and eventually turned into a cold-blooded killer with no sign of naivety in his body. At a tender age, Beah is trained to kill, mutilate and terrify dozens of people, which causes him to be bared to a flood of disturbing scenes; transform into a murderer; loose all sense of emotion; and in time, lose his innocence. In the novel A Long Way Gone, the reader can view the multiple events

"All things truly wicked start from an innocence,” states Ernest Hemingway on his view of innocence. Innocence, what every youth possesses, is more accurately described as a state of unknowing but not ignorance- which connotation suggests a blissfully positive view of the world. Most youth are protected from the harsh realities of the adult world. Therefore they are able to maintain their state of innocence. While innocence normally wanes over time, sometimes innocence can be abruptly taken away. Some of the characters in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood lost their innocence due to the traumatic events they experienced in childhood and adulthood while some had none to begin with.

Characters lose their innocence throughout American literature. What exactly does “losing their innocence” mean? Losing one’s innocence can be seen as a character maturing. A character may lose his/her innocence in ways including the viewing of a traumatic event, especially one that will scar his/her life forever. Losing one’s innocence can also be caused by losing one’s trust in someone whom he/she once trusted, catching a glimpse into the “real world”, or performing an act of immorality. The recurring theme of loss of innocence, as seen throughout American literature and reality, can affect a person and the people around him/her both negatively and positively. As a result, the audience can see the character mature through losing hope of dreams, becoming an outcast of society, gaining a new perspective of ideas, or gaining confidence. Negative and positive effects falling onto characters as a result of a loss of innocence can be found in works such as The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and The Hunger Games; this theme can also be seen in real life through the effects of children exposed to violent video games.

The lost of innocence can totally change the way people view the world. A person who illustrates this can be found in J.D. Salinger’s novel, the Catcher in the Rye. The story happened during the 1950s, in a small town in Pennsylvania called Agerstown. A teenage boy named Holden, who witnesses the death of his older brother Allie when he was only 13 years old. Then consequently, he blames himself all his life for the death of Allie. As time went by he starts to search for a sense of innocence that was lost in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the course of the novel, the author conveys that Holden is continually stuck in between childhood and adulthood. The author uses Holden’s struggle to convey that in reality often times people who

Evil is a word that is rooted in thoughts, and actions. The concept of evil is a convoluted force. In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, morals are reexamined through each tale. Chaucer discusses moral evil and its relevance to innocence, specifically in the Pardoner’s Tale, with the three rakes, and in the Prioress Tale, with the young boy. The seducing of innocence to become dishonorable is evil. All things wicked start from innocence.

In A Separate Peace, John Knowles carries the theme of the inevitable loss of innocence throughout the entire novel. Several characters in the novel sustain both positive and negative changes, resulting from the change of the peaceful summer sessions at Devon to the reality of World War II. While some characters embrace their development through their loss of innocence, others are at war with themselves trying to preserve that innocence.

To value innocence is to value ignorance because the loss of innocence reveals the realities of society.

Loss of innocence occurs when a person first develops an awareness of the suffering, evil and injustice around them. In poignant bildungsroman To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” Finch, recounting her experience growing up in the segregated town of Maycomb. Through Scout, you learn about her father Atticus Finch, an attorney who hopelessly strives to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson; a black man unjustly accused of rape, and of the civil rights issues and prejudice which plagues the town of Maycomb. Throughout the novel, scout loses her innocence as she is harshly exposed to the reality of injustice and racism in Maycomb. Three significant events illustrate this fact. The first example occurs when Scout

Everyday, people of all ages lose their innocence and develop morally through their daily experiences. Children deal with mishaps on the playground, conflicts with friends and family, and trouble in school. Similarly, Adults deal with conflicts within their own families, problems at work, and the loss of a loved one. In each situation, the person is learning important lessons that impact the way a person thinks, acts, approaches situations, and treats others. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem loses his innocence and grows morally through his daily experiences in three stages of understanding in Maycomb, Alabama.

Innocence is often a word used to describe children, they are pure because they have not yet become exposed to corruption. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah illustrates what happens when innocence has been seized from a young child. When rebels attack Beah’s village, he is forced on a life altering journey. Beah involuntarily transformed from an innocent adolescent into a rebel soldier. He needed a lot of guidance and correction to reconstruct his virtue. The conflict of the Civil War shaped Beah’s character.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, losing one's innocence is a major factor in shaping each of the characters personalities and beliefs in the story. By looking at The Inevitably of the Loss of Innocence, we can see that as each of the characters are growing up, they get more shocked by the reality of the harsh world because they have not yet learned hatred in their peers and community and because of the realization that not everybody is kind and has good morals. This is important because Lee displays this theme in the story by creating conflicts such as Tom Robinson's trial and the children's reaction to the verdict. Lee uses characterization for Boo Radley by giving the audience an overview about people's view on him and the horrifying

(page 90) Innocence is shown at the beginning of the book by Jem and Scout, because to them they lived in a perfect world that showed no evil. They are innocents who have been destroyed through contact with evil. The loss of innocence in a way is a coming of age. This happens by an experience in a child's life where they realize the world's darkness instead of only seeing the good side of it.

Vicissitudes lead to loss of childhood innocence. A pack of civilized British boys are left stranded on an island. Their childish and immature nature drives them to fool around, without adult supervision they experience total liberty over themselves. At the beginning of the book, their moral tendencies remain intact by creating a system of order and rules. However, they remain ignorant of the fact that being the adult of the group transcends just obtaining power. Also, by Jack denying his responsibility to ignite the signal fire to continue to hunt pigs in a sociopathic-obsessive behavior, shows their depraved nature of how the island collective would cease to devolve into further brutality. Jack’s devoted ambition to dictate gradually influences

The novella The Atonement by Ian McEwan produces a reoccurring theme of lost innocence. The children in the novella lose their childhood innocence after one wrongful accusation which tears the Tallis family apart. The setting in the novella develops the mood to be light and airy as the Tallis family resides in the English countryside. Nonetheless, the light and airy mood changes to one that is dark and full of mystery as the Second World War starts. Each character is tested by themselves and others to see if they can keep their innocence. But, each child grows further away from their childhood selves as their lies and misdeeds grow. With the use of literally devices McEwan shows how the loss of childhood innocence is harmful. The