Why Boys Become Vicious Analysis

Human beings are dark creatures; none better than animals. They fight and kill for their selfish greed for power, acceptance, and survival, yet somehow work together to form society. But as Jean-Jacques Rousseau explained in his work, “man only stays together for his own necessity for cooperation and survival.” (Luke Mastin). Even William Golding, the renowned author of the novel, Lord of the Flies, explains in his article, “Why Boys Become Vicious”, the environment under which boys portray their viciousness. However, Golding cannot identify the factors that cause them into joining impoverished gangs and crime such as lack of parental guidance, societal flaws, and the struggle for survival.

As repeated by several philosophers, childhood is a vital time period which truly shapes an individual. The University of Pittsburgh conducted several studies and concluded that parental guidance and behavior

If the child’s parents were “bad” people, then it is valid to predict the child will go along the same lines. Golding addresses the gangs of orphans that terrorize Russia. These children have a lack of parental guidance that could stabilize the anger within them. “When people are afraid they discover the violence within them and when they are afraid together they discover that the violence within them can be almost bottomless.” (Golding 2). Also, the death of their parents has infuriated them even more, which they use as fuel to propel their terroristic campaign forward. This behavior can be linked back to the lack of parental guidance that Golding fails to address in his article. He claims that the lack of parents forces them to commit crimes because they have no other way of surviving, but he does not explain what parenting does to the children. Parenting eases the violence that is embedded in the children and molds them into stable humans that could function in society without being a hindrance or