Why Boys Become Savage Analysis

The Origin of Savagery Where does savagery come from? Are certain people evil from the moment they were born? Why do some people grow up as saints and leaders, while others grow up as killers and thieves? In Lord of the Flies and “Why Boys Become Vicious”, William Golding explains how one’s background and peers are able to affect who we are as people. Every single person in this world is born with savagery and vicious within themselves. How humans are raised and who they interact with ultimately determine if their true nature flourishes within themselves. Every single human on this planet is evil when they are born. William Golding, a Nobel Prize-winning author, writes, “we are born with evil in us and cruelty is part of this” (Golding,

Humans’ true nature, savagery and violence, flourishes within themselves if they grow up without guidance from their parents and peers. For instance, after the First World War, orphans in Russia “roamed the country attacking and killing out of sheer cruelty… left to themselves, these children found a kind of elemental cohesion in their viciousness” (Golding, “Why Boys Become Vicious”). These children become violent and cruel due to the fact that their parents and guardians is not around to nurture them and teach them what is right and what is wrong. With the absence of guidance, the children’s morality is not able to suppress their viciousness and violence in their nature. In addition, an individual’s peers can have a great impact the person’s nature as well. Peer pressure can turn a leader into a killer, regardless of how well the individual is raised. For instance, Ralph and Piggy from Lord of the Flies were peer pressured into joining Jack’s dance with the littluns, and eventually killing Simon, despite the fact that Ralph and Piggy were amongst the more civilized kids. Ralph and Piggy “found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” (Golding 152), but without Jack’s pressuring, they would not have felt that way. An individual’s parents and peers can affect one’s nature, but they are definitely not the only