Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Lord of the flies Final Essay In the debate over which has the most influence on human behavior, nature or nurture, I contend that nature, or environment, plays a more significant role between the two choices. In The Lord of the Flies, the violent turning of the events displayed by the boys is a lot similar to other destructive happenings in our history. Consider the mob lynchings of the Old West or the Salem witch trials; the recent destructive events in cities such as Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland; and even the yearly violence on Black Fridays by otherwise normal, calm citizens. We often read how our sports and music heroes are in trouble with the law. They appear to have everything but cannot shake their influence from a

In our countries earliest settlements, there are accounts of hangings by angry mobs of people. Many men, women, even children were hanged if suspected of practicing witchcraft in the 1600’s. According to Blumberg, between March of 1692 and September of that same year, nineteen were hanged, another was stoned to death, while still others died while in prison. I wonder how many had speech impediments, suffered from a mental illness, or were just mentally challenged? They were deemed “different”, therefore they must be involved with witchcraft, and then hanged in the middle of the community with all the citizens watching. No one dared to speak out against the punishment for fear of being “next”. So it was in the book. No one was going to stand against Jack and his tribe for the fear of being on the other end of his spear. In The Lord of the Flies, the twins, Sam and Eric, did not want to join Jack’s group, but were basically forced to join.(Golding 178-179) Later, when Ralph was running from the tribe, the twins did not give Ralph up. Their basic goodness led them to protect Ralph even though it meant great hardship if this act of kindness was discovered.(Golding 189-190) They were the newest members of Jack’s tribe. I wonder how their attitudes would change as they spent more time with the group? Would they, too, succumb to the savage conditions of their environment as had the other