Why Boys Become Vicious By William Golding: An Analysis

In 1990, over 2,000 youths were charged on account of murder (Murphy). Child murderers are not as rare as one may presume. However, where does this capacity for such horrific intentions stem from in these youths? In 1954, William Golding wrote “Lord of the Flies,” a haunting story about a group of young boys around the age of 12, who are stranded on an island. Ultimately, they become power-hungry and go to extreme lengths for leadership, including murder. Nearly 40 years after his novel, Golding conveys the causes behind the evil capabilities that lie within every human in “Why Boys become Vicious.” He tells the story of James Bulger, a two-year-old boy lured out of a shopping center by two 10-year-old boys, who then proceeded to beat up the

For example, “In Russia after the First World War, there were, I believe, gangs of children who had lost their parents. Dispossessed, without anywhere to live or anything to live on, they roamed the country attacking and killing out of sheer cruelty” (Golding). This shows that without parental guidance, children stray away from their moral values. Lack of guidance results in children being unable to differentiate between right and wrong. In addition, according to Dr. Kathryn Seifert, a forensic psychologist, “when the accumulation of negative factors (chaotic neighborhoods) and the absence of positive factors (such as adults who provide encouragement) reach a threshold, that's when violence is more likely to erupt as a means of coping with life's problems”(Seifert). Seifert shows that people resort to violent measures simply as a coping mechanism. This capacity for evil and cruelty is within everyone, for it is an elemental factor of human nature that has kept us alive. However, this side of human nature doesn’t necessarily have to surface until it becomes one’s last resort. A lack of guidance strips away much of a child’s innocence, leaving them with