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Without A Parental Figure In Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

733 Words3 Pages

Growing up is an essential part of life, but what happens if you remove the parental figure while growing up? In the world, 8% of households are in 1 parent households, and over 153 million kids are orphaned worldwide. Studies have shown that kids who grow up in parentless households suffer from mental health problems more than households with parents. The coming-of-age novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies, represents young kids who must leave their adolescence too early and grow up. The author alludes to the idea that kids need a parental figure to mature and come of age. Lord of the Flies shows what happens when there is no parental figure. Some things that can occur without a parental figure or even an adult are savagery, murder, …show more content…

An example is Victor of Aveyron, he lived by himself for a long time and was naked, mute, and had a plethora of scars showing he had been there a long time. He refused to be washed or touched and exploded into violent outbursts. In the beginning, they still followed the rules and morals of proper British society, “We’ll have rules!” he cried. Lots of rules to follow! Then when someone breaks them.” (Golding 33) All the boys in the beginning wanted rules like in their boarding school and that represents following British societal etiquette. In Lord of the Flies, Jack and his followers became savage, “They hate you, Ralph. They are going to do you.” ”They are going to hunt you tomorrow. and throw our spears like at a pig.”(Golding 188) This shows that they all were originally proper British schoolboys who transitioned into being savages who hunted their enemies like pigs. They have no one to teach them right from wrong, so they follow their early human, savage instincts. Jack and his followers truly transitioned into being complete savages, and it shows. Growing up too fast is another thing that children without parental figures have to go

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