Ponyboy just had to see Johnny kill Bob and that was enough to make him lose his innocence. People like Randy and Steve just resent and hate the world so much that that would cause them to lose their innocence as well. Someone could lose their innocence just by thinking bad thoughts. S.E. Hinton definitely does not agree with William Blake’s poem: The Lily because in The Lily, William Blake is saying that innocence cannot be abolished or destroyed.
This event proves that Dunstan is the type of a person who would rather follow his own mind and heart then go along with the mob mentality. Ramsay sees Mrs. Dempster as his accidental creation, and he must “hate her or love her” (pg 167). This sense of possession shows up when Mrs. Dempster becomes his charge, and he pays for her care and visits her on a weekly basis. At this point Dunstan thinks of her as a part of himself: “a part of my own soul that was condemned to live in hell” (pg 176). He blames himself for having broken her spirits and is assured that he is the cause of her “saintful” suffering.
This all seems like a tragic story about the dissolution of a society in to chaos, but the chaos was not completely one-sided. Ralph finds himself in power when he brings the boys together from across the island. He loses the power when Merridew entices them with meat and action. Ralph loses most over time, and tries to win them back with logic and reasoning. This causes a conflict between Ralph and Merridew in terms of leadership, and causes more violence to occur, and eventually the death of three
His willingness to slaughter the man for so weak a reason is frightening though. It helps to show how twisted Chillingworth truly is. During the end of the novel though, Dimmesdale thwarts Chillingworth’s revenge plot by telling the Puritan community how he had an affair with Hester. This act absolutely ruins Chillingworth because he no longer possesses the power over Dimmesdale. All the horrible acts he had done in the past were undone, because Dimmesdale "Hast escaped me!"(228).
They were afraid of something they that was altogether foreign to them, the way it looked, what it ate, and how it acted. This fear of the unknown, undiscovered beast that lead them to kill a friend and helped fuel their need for bloodshed. Another example of the boys violence come from much earlier in the novel. Jack was describing his hunt with a group of boys. Ralph was upset because the fire had gone out.
They must be flogged. Upon hearing this Major Cabot Forbes is disgusted and reacts by denouncing the action of using a whip. Showing his leadership Shaw supports the flogging and tells his friend of many years Major Cabot to never question is authority causing a shrift between them, after a few exchanges of words the flogging begins. This is the point of the film where friends of Colonel Shaw are confused by his actions and are confused why he is behaving in way that he has not before in a more mean spirited and somewhat racist way. There also seems to be a conflict going on within himself.
Proctors decision makes a dramatic turn when Rebecca Nurse Enters the room. It could be said that Rebecca puts Proctor under a lot of pressure by saying that he is lying to the judges and not being truthful to himself or God. She is almost accusing him of being a coward in which Proctor has despised beings of this nature his entire life. Rebecca "(Astonished) why, John!" "Why, it is a lie" Proctor will have felt a lot of pressure on his shoulders in the short amount of time he had to decide his own fate as he had two different sides chirping in his ear.
Throughout the story the gradual abuses break down Mr. Chiu and he eventually falls from grace. By reading the story you can pinpoint him as a person becoming progressively worse and him degenerating as a person. During his arrest he experienced physical abuse by being punched in the chest, all while being witnessed by a helpless newlywed wife. (Jin 180) While being interrogated by officials he is cornered by false
Guilt is a very big part of human conscience (except on Monday’s which have been proved by statistics as the most guilt-ridden day for most workers.) Many people tend to feel guilty about something that they have done rather it be in secret or out in the open. In Danicat’s novel “The Dew Breaker”, guilt is a demon that hunts a man that tries to run away from a dark past. The guilt that Ka’s father has about the past could never leave him alone due to all the evil deeds he had committed on innocent people. Ka’s father tries to hide his identity throughout the novel because he does not want his past to catch up with his present life.
The problem with Bone is that he is scared of his stepdad. Bone’s stepdad threatens him by saying some nasty words to him like, as he says “all the time he said he’d cut off my d*** if I told” (pg. 196). I think what makes bone leaves his family is that he doesn’t want anyone to know about the times when his stepdad abuses him. He is afraid of what the society would think of him just like when he says “no one’d believe me” (page 296).