Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Essay

701 Words3 Pages
The Lord of the Flies is a blood stained trail off of an island that was the home of a choir for months. While on the island the boys had no choice but to dig-in and live off the land until they could either escape or be rescued. Many sacrifices were made on this island, such as the innocence of a boy named Jack Merridew. While on this floating prison two of these poor boys were lost and now their parents are blaming Jack for their childrens untimely deaths. Though he is a savage and a horrible person, Jack Merridew can not be held responsible for the murders of Piggy and Simon due to psychosis and other mental illness. The conditions these boys were in were the breeding grounds for insanity. The choir was trapped on a rock in the middle of the ocean with no signs of civilization for miles. Insanity thrives in places such as this one with high stress levels, lack of sufficient food, and and intense fear(“Psychosis-Causes”). All of these traits can be pinpointed to specific parts of the boys ordeal. High stress levels were caused by the constant tribal war and the…show more content…
Some may argue to say that he was to be held responsible for Piggy's death because he ordered Roger to kill him, this is not true. It is clearly stated in the book that Roger killed Piggy without any order and by his own free will. Jack also can not be held responsible for Simon’s death either. Not only did he never come in contact with Simon during his gruesome murder but even if he did, it would be considered manslaughter, not murder. My reasoning behind this incident being manslaughter and not murder is because it was an accident and completely in self defence. The boys had no way to tell it was Simon and they figured it was a bloodthirsty beast, it is human nature to attack it at that point. To go against human nature is like going against all logic and knowledgeable
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