Analysis Of Maturation Of The Adolescent Brain

The feeling of hot sand underneath your toes, every single day at the same time. The days go by slowly, with little to no hope of being rescued. This is what it was like for the children in the realistic fiction novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding. There was a plane full of children that crashed, all of them under the age of 12. They ended up on an unknown island in the Pacific Ocean. The boys had to fend for themselves and they all had to figure out how to survive. Eventually all of the boys soon turned into savages and went against one another by hurting the others. There are two main characters who took charge right away due to no supervision: Jack and Ralph. Jack was mainly in charge of hunting, and Ralph was in charge of

There are many studies that prove that the adolescent brain is still maturing, hence why the actions of the boys in the book are still immature and not fully thought out beforehand. Throughout the article, “Maturation of the Adolescent Brain,” it discusses the pubertal transition to adulthood involves both gonadal and behavioral maturation. Under The Adolescent Brain, it states, “Several investigators consider the age span 10-24 years as adolescence, which can be further divided into substages specific to physical, cognitive, and social -- emotional development.” (Dovepress). This quote applies to the Lord of the Flies, because all of the boys are under the age of 12, which means they are still in the developing stage. Which, is clearly shown throughout the novel both physically and emotionally. In chapter 9, it states “Jack ignored them for the moment, turned his mask down to the seated boys and pointed at them with the spear. ‘Who’s going to join my tribe?’” ( Golding 157). In this quote, it talks about Jack asking the other boys who is going to join their tribe. Clearly, the fact that he is asking them who is going to join his tribe, shows that he is not in the right state. Any typical 12 year old would try to survive with the help of his/her friends. The brain development in teenage brains connect to the biological factors, which are the reasons for the actions of the