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How our past experiences shape our behavior
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Experiences and surroundings are powerful forces in humans’ lives. They can help form a person’s ideals as well as change them later in life. The human mind is keen on taking these in and translating them to thoughts or adaptations, demonstrating its flexibility and malleability. The defining characteristic of being human, then, is that we are shaped by our experiences and surroundings. And once our ideals are established, we are not static beings, but rather adapt our thoughts and actions based on the circumstances.
Humans are born as blank slates, tabula rasa. Because of this, we are most susceptible to being shaped by experiences and surroundings during the earlier stages of our lives. Children’s earliest and most frequent interactions are
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They start out as proper civilized children, but in order to survive, they must hunt for food and defend themselves from “the beast.” Their constant hunting creates a thirst for blood, illustrated in their chant, “‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood’” (Golding 69). As they stay on the island, the boys become even more violent and civility is all but forgotten, eventually unknowingly killing one of their own as they “surged after [him], poured down the rock, leapt on to [what they thought was] the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (153). Even the most civilized of the group joins the rest in their viciousness when, “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (114-115). The boys’ degeneration into barbarity demonstrates how their environment causes changes in their previously-established thoughts and actions as they adapt (and go too far in doing so) to their wild surroundings. Similarly but in a more positive direction, the time I spend surrounded by gregarious individuals in Youth and Government has made me more outgoing than before. The change of a group as a whole toward similar ideals and characteristics exemplifies the power peers have over each other. In response to both their surrounding environment and people, humans are able to change …show more content…
They are like lumps of clay, molded by their surroundings and experiences. This is especially true early in life, when they take in their surroundings and translate them into ideals and characteristics. As they get older, this susceptibility can lessen but does not disappear. Adults are able to take what they learn from their experiences and surroundings and adapt appropriately, whether instinctually or intentionally. They are able to do this because of the malleability of the human mind even after initial shaping has been completed in childhood. Humans, then, are defined by their ability to use their experiences and surroundings to form their ideals as well as adapt to
Like Jack, the boys no longer value kindness, compassion, or empathy, Instead, they resort to violence and force. This is shown when the boys do their dance and chant “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 168) This chant is one of violence and savagery. When the boys see Simon crawling out of the jungle, they don’t care if it’s a human or a beast, their first instinct is just to kill. Another example of the boy’s lack of compassion and empathy, is when they participate in tying up Wilfred and allow Jack to beat him for no apparent reason. Jack’s tribe continues to slip further into savagery. They rebel against, and destroy everything that represents kindness, order and civilization. This is evident when Jack, Roger, and Maurice go to Ralph’s camp, taunt Piggy, steal his glasses to make a fire, and beat up the civilized group. Piggy’s death and the breaking of the conch also represent the group’s disintegration of humanity. Piggy says while holding the conch: “Which is better-to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or be sensible like Ralph is?” (Golding 200) The tribe chooses savagery over order when Roger releases the boulder that kills Piggy, and shatters the conch. The evolution of savagery is complete when the group’s morals and values become the laws in which they abide
As one becomes older, past memories and encounters can dictate the type of life someone ends up living. Ralph, Jack, and Roger are the three characters whose lives have been most impacted by their experience on the island in the last 25 years. In this sequel from Lord of the Flies, Ralph has changed greatly thanks to his inability to understand the why factor in his actions; Jack has transitioned from a vicious, irrational child, to a shy, furtive young man; However, Rodger has not changed as he still has his psychopathic tendencies, but uses it for self-protection.
William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The Flies’ tells the story of a group of English boys isolated on a desert island, left to attempt to retain civilisation. In the novel, Golding shows one of the boys, Jack, to change significantly. At the beginning of the book, Jack’s character desires power and although he does not immediately get it, he retains the values of civilized behaviour. However, as the story proceeds, his character becomes more savage, leaving behind the values of society. Jack uses fear of the beast to control the other boys and he changes to become the book’s representation of savagery, violence and domination. He is first taken over with an obsession to hunt, which leads to a change in his physical appearance This change of character is significant as he leads the other boys into savagery, representing Golding’s views of there being a bad and unforgiving nature to every human.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack is the character that experiences the most change. Jack begins the novel as a somewhat arrogant choirboy, who cries when he is not elected leader of the island. Jack is gradually transformed into a vicious killer who has no respect for human life. Through a series of stages, such as leading the choir, leading the hunting tribe, wearing the mask, killing Simon, separating from the group and intentionally killing Piggy, Jack degenerates from a normal, arrogant school boy into a savage beast.
In most societies, adults play a lead role in maintaining civilization. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, there is no adult guidance which drives the children to spiral out of control. No authority means there are no consequences for bad behavior; therefore the children were not afraid of getting in trouble for the things that they were doing. When fear of “The Beast” takes over the island, it begins to possess the boys and motivates them to do whatever they need to feel empowered and accepted. The boys’ fear of a higher power and lack of adult supervision urges them to kill two of the smartest and most innocent children on the island in search of respect from the other boys. In order to remain alive on the island the boys must compete for their lives. The innocent are bullied, and do not survive. The savagery that Golding presents his readers with in Lord of the Flies is still present in modern day society. Children lacking parental guidance tend to act out of their normal human nature as seen in Golding’s Lord of the Flies and, the Columbine Shootings.
We are shaped by our relationships and experiences in many ways. We may act a certain way because that’s how we were taught, and because that’s how we think. There are many things that happen on a daily basis that help shape us, some in minor ways, while others in major ways.
Humans are such an emotional creature and can even be manipulated by using their own emotions like what Jack does in Lord of The Flies. Jack primarily uses fear, the idea of using fear came from the idea of a beast being on the island, a fictional beast sparked by the littluns imagination. He can be seen using the beast as a weapon to induce fear when he claims false powers the beast has like taking forms such as Simon before his death and even so far to make people think this beast is a godly being. He also claimed that he saw the beast and eventually uses the claim to lead a group of his own but would later make almost everyone obey his commands at castle rock. Evidence of him using fear can also be seen is when he raids Ralph’s camp using
Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame.
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
Many philosophers and psychologist from Jean Piaget to William James have theorized what makes a person who they are, their identity. Jean Piaget believed that the identity is formed in the sensorimotor stage and the preoperational stage. This means that a child is forming his identity as late to the age of seven (Schellenberg, 29) However, identity is strongly impacted by society such as school, church, government,and other institutions. Through our interactions with different situations our personality develops (Schellenberg 34). "In most situations there is a more diversified opportunity for the development of social identities, reflecting what the individual wants to put forth to define the self as well as what others want to accept,"(Schellenberg 35). Therefore, humans, much like animals, adapt to different situations based on who they are with. Individuals are always changi...
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
The first two years of a humans life are bursting with biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development. In the first few weeks after conception to two years after birth a child’s brain experiences more growth than any other organ in the body. During the first two years of a child’s life the brain is very plastic and malleable. In order for children to continue down a path of success and learning there are certain experiences a child must have in order to develop normally. The First Two years of a child life is responsible for the foundation that is layed.
Imagine the thought of being on a plane that crashes on a deserted island. You are overwhelmed, but at the same time grateful there are other survivors. Naturally, everyone agrees that they must band together, but that doesn't last long because conflicts arise. Of course, stressful situations can tend to cause people to act differently. Philip Zimbardo a professor and psychologist says " There are times when external circumstances can overwhelm us, and we do things we never thought. If you're not aware that this can happen, you can be seduced by evil." and " That human behavior is more influence by things outside of us than inside. The ' situation' is the external environment." In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding writes
Humans are born as blank slates, tabula rasa. Because of this, the defining characteristic of being human is that we are shaped by our experiences and surroundings, thinking certain thoughts and performing certain actions based on these. This is not, however, exclusive to early learning, but also applies to changes in our thoughts or actions later in life.
Throughout our lives we have all been influenced by our environment and other outside forces. Our environment may change the way we think, act and behave in life. Since we are all products of our environment, it comes to no surprise that we, as humans, tend to behave in a society the same way others around us behave but at the same time we strive to find who we really are (Schaefer 73). Since birth, humans have always analyzed the world around them. With each day that passes, humans take in more and more information from the outside world. The information which humans obtain through their environment subconsciously influences the decisions people make throughout their daily life (Neubauer 16). On the other hand, our genetics also play a vital role in determining what type of person we are and what will we become.