Murder In Lord Of The Flies Persuasive Essay

In the realistic fiction novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a plane crashes, leaving a group of young English boys as the only survivors. The boys become stranded on the island and lose their sense of humanity, becoming savage and uncivilized. Some boys committed greater acts of malice than others, all having submitted to their primal instinct, nevertheless. I believe Ralph, whom is twelve-years-old, should be convicted for voluntary murder, while Jack, whom is the same age as Ralph, should be convicted for voluntary murder and assault I believe Ralph should be convicted of involuntary murder because of his role in Simon’s death. When Simon had found the body of the dead parachutist, he thought he could put the other boys

Jack has committed several crimes, including assault and voluntary murder. Examples of Jack committing assault occur on page 71, “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt. Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation. … and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off … ” (Golding 71). Jack punches Piggy in the stomach and slaps him for scolding Jack when he let the signal fire go out, missing the slight possibility that a ship could see the smoke rising from the flames and rescue them. Another example is when Jack commands his tribe to capture Sam and Eric from Ralph and Piggy and tie them up. “‘I said “grab them”!’ … ‘Tie them up!’ … ‘Go on. Tie them.’ Now the painted group felt the otherness of Samneric, felt the power in their own hands. They felled the twins clumsily and excitedly. Jack was inspired. … ” (Golding 178-179) I believe Jack should also be tried for voluntary murder because he contributes in the killing of Simon. When Jack was holding his feast and Simon had arrived with the body of the dead parachutist, the boys all pounced on Simon, including Jack, and violently killed him, despite his consistent pleading and shouting about the dead man on the

Ralph knowingly murdered a child his age, while Jack was violent with many, if not all, of the boys on the island, murdered a child his age, and other illegal acts. Nadine Kaslow, chief psychologist for the Department of Psychiatry and Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, believes, “If you behave in a way that's so horrible, there need to be significant consequences to that." Another argument people might have is that Ralph couldn’t have known Simon was the beast, yet on page 156, Ralph admits to having the knowledge that the “beast” had been Simon. In addition, people might argue that in their mental state, the boys can’t be charged because they were irrational and overwhelmed due to being stranded on an island. Ralph could have held himself back at Jack’s feast, but chose not to. Ralph decided to give into the primal instinct. Jack let all the power go to his head. He didn’t have to, he could have restrained himself, but chose not