Why Boys Become Vicious Analysis

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“Why Boys Become Vicious” Rough Draft: Cruelty flourishes with fear and chaos (Golding par. 10). The renowned author of the Lord of the Flies, William Golding, writes the article “Why Boys Become Vicious” in the examiner on February 28, 1993. His book, Lord of the Flies, was written after World War II reflected his view on humanity and specifically children. Similarly, his article is written after the death of 2-year-old James Bulger, who was brutally murdered by two older Liverpool boys. Golding lashes out on the evil that arises in children if virtuous parents are not present as well as the concept of nature vs. nurture. However, his cynical ideas in his article and his novel, Lord of the Flies, however, serve only some justice compared to the ideas of the Enlightenment. Examining James Bulger’s murder, Golding felt the need to comment upon such actions…show more content…
Golding simply believes that all people are born evil and need a good father and/or mother to suppress the evil characteristics. Without any complexity, he strongly foments this claim. On the other hand, looking at the ideology from the Enlightenment, it is evident that the 20th century had clearly impacted the thinking of individuals. Ideas proposed, such as the tabula rasa, are rejected by Golding and replaced with pessimistic ideas created by the trauma of war. This proves the point of the drift toward individual thinking and the transformation of nature vs. nurture. Moreover, Golding does not even touch upon the subject of women. Completely avoiding the use of a women is worse than the roles of the women during the Enlightenment when they helped in salons and some of them actually developed new ideas as well. Above all else, it is clear that Golding did have solid supporting details, but with a sense of doubt and missing important parts about the women and the origins of nature vs.

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