Gordie’s Loss of Innocence

Gordie’s Loss of Innocence

It is a well known statement that one learns from mistakes made, however it is also true that one will learn and grow from all meaningful events in life. Through these events one may eventually lose the innocence they once had. In the story, Fall from Innocence: The Body, by Stephen King, Gordie goes through a series of events that makes him lose his innocence. He goes through events that makes his perspective on life change. He especially goes through the aftermath of his brother’s death, the obstacles he faced during the search for the body, and the finding of the body. These moments make Gordie’s characteristics change and made him lose his innocence. Gordie’s innocence makes him an easy target because of his guiltiness, his fear, and his maturity.

In the story, Gordie has guiltiness for his brother’s death. He feels that he is somehow responsible for his brothers death even though it was a car accident that he could not of predicted. His guilty feeling haunts him throughout the story when he has recurring nightmares about his brother and how things would have been if he died instead of his brother. One particular dream is when Gordie hears a spooky voice talking to him, “It should have been you Gordon” (King 187). The voice is telling Gordie that he should of been the one to die not his brother Dennis. This makes Gordie really feel guilty for his brothers death. This relates back to the theme of innocence because he does not understand that he is not responsible for his brothers death. It took Gordie a long time to realize that his brothers death was not his fault and that he does not have to be guilty. When Gordie says, “It took me a long time after that summer to realize that most of the tears I cried were for my mom and my dad” (King 178). Gordie finally realizes that he should not be responsible for his brothers death. This relates back to the theme of innocence because Gordie finally understands that he does not need to feel guilty. That is how Gordie’s guiltiness relates back to the theme of innocence or loss of innocence.

The second characteristic of Gordie is his fear. While searching for the body, Gordie faces a lot of frightening obstacles. An example of this is when Gordie was crossing the trestle. Gordie heard a train coming and he started running as fast as he can screaming in fear that he might not make it but he did. This is an example of the theme of innocence because Gordie does not understand that he needs to thrive off his fear. Another example of Gordies fear is when he swims in the body of water. He did not know there was a whole bunch of leeches in the water. Once Gordie found out there was leeches in the water, he screamed out of fear and got out of the water. The leeches covered Gordie’s body. He describes peeling the leeches off his body, “I reached down again and picked it off and it burst between my fingers.