Why Boys Become Vicious By William Golding: An Analysis

The face of American crime has evolved from adults to the not so innocent faces of adolescence. In today’s society, it is not uncommon for people to fear just walking into public places because they don’t know what horrendous actions may occur due to the indifferent, disrespectful actions of some of America’s youth. Parents are often hesitant to send their children to school because they feel that they cannot trust their child’s fellow classmates. This lack of trust and apprehension was evident in Wisconsin, where two thirteen year old girls attempted to murder one of their fellow classmates. Their reasoning was that they were trying to imitate a fictional character that they saw on the internet. These two young girls were tried as adults

On a daily basis, does one think of him or herself to be cruel or violent? Many think that mankind has a nature of being savage. People believe that we acquired the trait of viciousness and that it is inside every one of us. One person that focuses on the savagery of humans is writer William Golding. In his novel Lord Of The Flies and article “Why Boys Become Vicious”, he tells of the production of savagery. Golding speaks of the circumstances that cause fierce behavior. Chaos, fear, and the corruption of power breed savagery. Without these components, savagery can not flourish.

Constantly facing the darkness of looming greed and lust, humanity seems to be doomed to trudge in the mires of sin forever. However, while fear and chaos—especially a lack of guidance—can cause cruelty to flourish, it is also where kindness makes its greatest display. In “Why Boys Become Vicious”, William Golding argues that mayhem and terror brings out the evil nature of humans. Without proper order and parental guidance, humans are lead astray and band together only to create more chaos and cruelty. Even so, humans can come together to show kindness and love. Even seemingly barbaric gangs search for order in society and provide security and comfort for the impoverished. People are naturally inclined to help others and act socially, especially

Violence is easily seen in today's culture through criminal actions in the media. Surprisingly, "on average, American youth view more than 1,000 murders, rapes, and assaults each year" (Rockefeller 2). This shocking fact demonstrates just how prevalent violence is in the young minds of Americans. As a result of these viewings, young adults are sure to have psychological effects. Studies have proven that "children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation" (Tompkins 1). Children absorb what they see in the world around them, highlighting the importance of protecting them from violent media. The viewers are more likely to imitate violence, and are also more likely to feel hostile and aggressive. These impacts, along with a loss of empathy for humans, should not be encouraged in a classroom. While these effects are linked to violence in the media, they can be generalized to murder. In Cold Blood, is centered on the Clutter family murder, where Herbert, Bonnie, and their two children, Nancy and Kenyon, were killed. Therefore, murder is a prevalent theme. The family was gagged, tied down, and then killed individually, as the book describes in detail what happened that terrible night (Capote). Violence through murder is displayed explicitly throughout this novel, further justifying the banning of In Cold Blood in high school

The Monitor on Psychology article “What makes good people do bad things?” by Melissa Dittmann analyzes the results of the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Stanford psychology professor Phillip Zimbardo in 1971 and discusses what the experiment can tell us about human nature and what causes humans to be evil. In the novel “Lord of the Flies” the author William Golding discusses the effects of the theories mentioned in the article by creating his own fictional experiment with children stranded on an island during a nuclear war. Throughout his novel Golding explores the focus of Dittmann’s article; that environments and situations can bring out the evil that is inside all of us. People can act good or bad depending on their environment, and these actions are not entirely their fault because when people are not held accountable for their actions their more violent natures are revealed.

To be quite honest, I have never heard of James”Whitey” Bulger, and I was born and raised in the city of Boston. My family has resided in Boston since the early 1970’s and they have never mentioned him. Therefore, in order to write this paper and actually know who is James “Whitey” Bulger, I watched the recent film Black Mass which is based on his story. I found the Bulger story to be quite terrifying and unbelievable, I believe the film did a great job portraying his life as a gangster in Boston. Bulger story gives a perfect demonstration of the criminological theories we have discussed in class. I find that Bulger story best represents the disorganization theory of Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay, although, it lacks the representation of Travis Hirschi's self control theory.

Subject matter such as extreme anger, violence, and even death are typically associated with novels and movies about adults. Most people do not usually relate these things to young children, but the in the dystopian fiction novel Lord of the Flies, boys as young as six years old are exposed to all of this. Changes within the characters coupled with the presence of several key symbols show how separation from civilization can corrupt the minds of young children. From examining the characters and symbols in the novel Lord of the Flies, one can see that the author William Golding is showing the immense importance of civilization and how a lack of it can result in chaos and savagery.

Extended out to most children is the hand of a parent offering a warm hug along with warnings of danger to their children. This is what any fit parent would do. However this is not always the case with all parents. For example in the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary and Rex Walls are not fit to be parents because they don’t give their children what they need and have an unstable relationship.

How does an ordinary group of people turn into bloodless killers? The author of Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning offers the most captivating argument towards how it is possible for ordinary men to commit extraordinary atrocities. This paper will analyze the different viewpoints of what caused ordinary men to commit murder.

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is about a group of young boys, aged around 6-12, that crash land on an uninhabited island, and without adults, they fail miserably. In E.L Epstein’s article “NOTES ON LORD OF THE FLIES” Golding reveals in his novel that the flaws in human nature lead to a flawed society; which is seen in society (Epstein par. 3).

One of the world’s top evil serial killers is none other than Richard Trenton Chase, better known as The Vampire of Sacramento. Richard Chase who went on a month-long killing binge, which finished with six individuals dead, including children. Alongside brutally killing his victims, he additionally drank their blood which earned him the nickname, "The Vampire of Sacramento."

Furthermore, persons who lack guidance and fail to adhere with moral values of society will be ostracized and jailed. In this case, Felicia lacks the proper parental guidance and she was constantly abused. People who grow up in similar families or neighborhood as Felicia’s know no better and would take the path of violence. They grow up with the knowledge that the only methods of communication are violence and crime. They are not exposed to honest ways of living. Growing up surrounded by violence and other immoral behaviors renders persons vulnerable and they have a high probability of committing crimes in the future. People whose lives have been exposed to violence suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. As the disorder is a result of the stress the children undergo through and it builds up as they grow. Children develop the disorder from the beatings and deaths they witnessed as they grew up. When children suffer the PTSD, they are unable to control their behaviors. This can be reiterated by Flaherty writings “Morgan belongs to a very small group of inner-city residents with (tremendous intra-familial violence), only some of whom might experience PTSD” (2003). It is argued that everyone has had bad experiences and memories when growing up. As such, this should not excuse anyone from his/her actions. This means that one should be responsible for their actions irrespective of what influences

What would happen if boys from a civilized culture were unexpectedly thrown together on an island? William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, provides a potential answer. Despite them trying to form leadership to keep everyone civil, the island’s environment changed them. The environment and situation caused them to change as they had to be responsible without adults, they all began to act like the animals they hunted, and they were able to commit murder.

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies does not simply describe the life of a group of children stranded on an island, but rather it is a representation of the qualities of human nature. As the novel progresses, the children grow deeper into savagery, performing actions that would be often criticised in society. The absence of law and order devolves even those that attempt to recreate it, like Ralph and Piggy. In this novel, Golding uses children to answer the question whether or not humans are born inanimately good or truly evil. Golding answers this question by symbolising the main characters and their descent into savagery. He uses Ralph and Piggy to describe the well-educated that attempt to grasp civilisation, but ultimately fail to deliver. His symbol of Roger as an ordinary person that breaks loose of the chains of society once disconnected from it. Finally, the nature of Jack is a depiction of the power hungry that will do anything to lead.

W.E.B. Du Bois said that “children learn more from what you are than what you teach”. Society always takes pride solely in the way a child has been raised by its parents. Children do not misbehave because they feel like misbehaving, but because something vital is missing in that child’s nurturing. Many parents allow their young to deviate from what is morally right or equal and their authority and choose violence over all odds as a solution for anger. Firstly, the consequence of ill nurturing can be the outcome of long-term mental health issues because of the child being prone to violence, anger, and stress. Secondly, the child itself will become an egocentric person and an evil parent themselves in the