A Lesson Well Taught by Kayla

A Lesson Well Taught by Kayla - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

Looking back on my high school reading lists, I am grateful that we had to read so many books (but let me tell you, at the time I was irked by the fact we had to read all of them). Reading for school never interested me, but now I realize that there was a greater lesson behind just reading because you were told to. One book that at the time it was assigned I dreaded but now am appreciative that it was assigned is “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Then it was another assigned reading and I didn't put much thought into it, but now as a college freshman looking back to a piece I read four years ago I realize I was taught an indirect lesson through that book about innocence and how it is so hard to find in this day and age.

Innocence is a main point in this piece of work but decision making plays a role in the presence of the wholesome idea. Without the decisions made in the piece, innocence wouldn’t have been lost and as readers we wouldn’t have witnessed the transformation of the young characters. The end of the book states “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” Golding uses this to explain that the innocence is gone and that to an extent each of us clearly has a vicious side.

Innocence should be preserved and respected rather than discarded. The book also taught a lot through symbolism. I believe that this book can be incorporated into many different real world settings, whether that is within the inner city schools or in a country side small town. Maybe the fact that the original publication date is 1954 is a turn off to young adults, but as they say “The old are wise, and with wisdom they teach.”