The Development Of Children In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding
“If there is no one around to guide children, then they go wrong...” says the author of Lord of The Flies, William Golding about a topic in his acclaimed book (Golding). In Golding’s novel a group of boys become stranded on a tropical island, and begin a slow descent into madness. One of the boys, Roger, kills another named Piggy by pushing a large rock which knocks Piggy to his death. While it is true Roger committed the crime he may not be psychologically healthy. Roger does in fact exhibit signs of mental unsoundness, throwing rocks at children, killing Piggy, then finally almost pushing his leader off of a cliff, the whole while feeling no remorse. Roger may have killed Piggy, but he is not at fault as he is mentally ill. Roger does not
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Although it is unclear the origins of Roger it can be assumed he does not have the best upbringing and experienced little to no restraint, and “research has shown that trauma during childhood can lead to aggressive or even criminal behavior...” (Beller). Even if Roger was mentally healthy he would still have a higher chance to commit crimes based on his presumably unstable backdrop, where he may have been abused or just lacked structure. And, not only does his childhood affect him, the fact he is on an island with no adults pushes him past his sanity’s breaking point. Children need guidance. Roger may have very well gone his entire life without guidance, and when he is thrown into a life or death situation he cannot fall back on his futile teachings, for his has none. Without being shown the right way to live Roger stumbles through life as he knows not right from wrong.
Roger is but a sick and misguided child who should not be punished, but rather helped. Children are blank canvases, they can either become unimpaired or immoral. Roger may have killed Piggy but a misguided child such as he does not know how to be human, and a mentally ill child cannot be judged the same way as a healthy adult. Children such as Roger need to be helped through life without the most basic set of rules or guidelines a child will become unstable. Illness is
Although it is unclear the origins of Roger it can be assumed he does not have the best upbringing and experienced little to no restraint, and “research has shown that trauma during childhood can lead to aggressive or even criminal behavior...” (Beller). Even if Roger was mentally healthy he would still have a higher chance to commit crimes based on his presumably unstable backdrop, where he may have been abused or just lacked structure. And, not only does his childhood affect him, the fact he is on an island with no adults pushes him past his sanity’s breaking point. Children need guidance. Roger may have very well gone his entire life without guidance, and when he is thrown into a life or death situation he cannot fall back on his futile teachings, for his has none. Without being shown the right way to live Roger stumbles through life as he knows not right from wrong.
Roger is but a sick and misguided child who should not be punished, but rather helped. Children are blank canvases, they can either become unimpaired or immoral. Roger may have killed Piggy but a misguided child such as he does not know how to be human, and a mentally ill child cannot be judged the same way as a healthy adult. Children such as Roger need to be helped through life without the most basic set of rules or guidelines a child will become unstable. Illness is