The modern world is diverse with a vast amount of ethnicities, yet it cannot be described as completely safe. Uncivilized individuals, criminals, rapists, and terrorists walk the same streets civilians do everyday. If one were to pick up a newspaper at their local outdoor newspaper machine, it's highly likely the headlines would advertise a “Black Lives Matter” campaign or convey details about a local school shooting. These preposterous phenomenon are the coping mechanisms of an individual, sometimes a clan. The ability to possess an inclination to harm kind citizens is a characteristic most find strange.…
Simon’s death is the end of innocence for the other boys, because they murder him and descend into savagery. According to William Golding, there is a savage in everybody, but others disagree, saying that savagery is created not ancestral. Although people may seem sturdy and sane, everybody can be savage if pushed far enough over the line. In the novel, Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding, the boys started off by adopting civil rules and creating civility amongst themselves.…
Simon makes attempts to enlighten the boys and each time, they resisted. Nevertheless, Simon continued to aspire to reach them, leading to him being seen as the enemy to the boys when in actuality, he only wanted to help. The boys kill Simon, not out of fear, but in the interest of another desire, that had been to break free from the “civilization that knew nothing of [them] and was in ruins” (62), which Simon tried to hold onto. They had referred to him as the beast, in order to dehumanize him which allowed them to kill Simon. The boys did not want to be good or civil, instead, they wanted to cut the last tie to civilization that they had.…
William Golding's fictional novel Lord of the Flies and Maria Mauro’s article “Children Who Murder: Jordan Brown, Eric Smith and Others: Jordan Brown: Too Young to Kill?” depict the horrific behavior of children in order to show the world that society must require consequences to deter such atrocities from happening. Mauro discusses a 13 year-old named Eric Smith, who murdered 4-year-old Derrick Robie in a park in Steuben County, New York. Eric dropped two big rocks on Derrick's head which caused his death. According to the text, “Eric was tried as an adult and was sentenced for 9 years-to-life in prison”(Mauro 1). Eric’s punishment was fair because his crime was brutal even though he was diagnosed by a psychiatrist with intermittent explosive disorder, a mental disorder that causes people to act out violently and…
Often time when we think of children, we don’t think of them as being a capable of much, especially not murder. However, throughout history children have been convicted of committing some of the most heinous murders. “I killed because people like me are mistreated every day. I did this to show society ‘push us and we will push back!’ throughout my life I was ridiculed.…
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses religious allegories to demonstrate that as much as mankind struggles to avert sin, it will always be a present factor in humanity. As soon as the boys got on the island, they marked the beautiful untouched land with a scar from the plane crash. Beauty and innocence was tainted instantly. One of the main religious allegories that remained consistent throughout the book was Simon.…
What defines a murderer in a court of law? His age? His sex? Or his actions? If a young boy, no older than thirteen, murders another boy of the same age, would this boy, who murdered the other boy, be charged or would the jury plead that he is not old enough to take responsibilities for his crimes?…
Compare and contrast ralph and Simon. Both seem to be “good” characters. Is there a difference of their goodness? Despite most of the characters turned into barbarians, there are some who stayed headstrong and civilized.…
May it please the court, I Maya Goldberg, along with my co-counsels, Mr. Foote and Mr. Rogers are here today to argue the tragic event of Nov. 21 1932. On Nov. 21, 1932 Simon’s life was taken away from him due to Jack’s lack of concern for human life. Simon was not only killed, but killed by dangerous conduct in a ruthlessly and unforgiving way. Jack, along with his kids, were unaware of what they were doing but that isn’t an excuse to the action they have committed. In Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew is guilty of second degree murder; a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life, for the death of Simon.…
The characterization of Simon shows that in the society of the Lord of the Flies, he represents essentially the good that tends to be overshadowed. From the beginning, Simon was cast aside as an insignificant member of the choir when he first faints and Jack says, "he's always throwing a faint" (Golding 13). Through this subtle dismissal, it is seen that Simon has been deemed unimportant. However later on, Simon is found to be one of the most helpful and useful out of the group when he helps Ralph build the shelters and gives a chunk of his meat to Piggy (Golding 41, 62). Of course, since Jack was the one to hunt the pig and feed the group, Simon's actions go unnoticed.…
A. Overview David M. Buss, a much-admired psychological researcher, has analyzed how the human mind has adapted to homicide and how behavioral evolution has altered how humans perceive and react to the act of homicide. He does this by conducting his own national research survey on modern-day people’s thoughts on murder and questions if they have ever considered killing another person before, and if so, why and under what circumstances. He investigates how homicides have changed over the decades, killing someone for survival versus killing someone for dominance. The main criminologically based aspect of Buss’ novel is centered around homicide and how the act of committing homicide is a natural idea that the human brain has. He explains how murdering…
This horrible tale shocked the country and media, the story ended up making the cover of Time Magazine. Our nation reacted with mixed emotions. USA Today suggested: "With every brutal crime by a child, a troubled nation demands longer jail sentences, tougher treatment, even the death penalty--anything to stop the violence." Shocking cases like Yummy Sandifer's, makes us focus on crime and our youth, trying to find a solution for a problem that seems to be growing daily. But killing our youth cannot be the answer.…
On T.V. crime shows there's sometimes an episode where the quiet, introverted kid was the killer all along and it makes you feel uncomfortable, uneasy, and it’s all a little disturbing. Sometimes, those episodes come to life and there are kids out there that really kill people. Going back as far as the 1950’s there are reported cases of kid killers being imprisoned. In the 1980’s and 90’s “when the battle against juvenile crime peaked” (Wolf, 2016, p.2) hundreds of kids were imprisoned for committing violent crimes. If a minor commits a violent crime they should be sentenced to life in prison without parole.…
Carrie P. Meek once stated that, "If we were really tough on crime we'd try to save our children from desperation and deprivation that leave the prime for a life of crime." In America, the presumption of inordinate victimization of children has been justified by childhood traumatic experiences. The contemporary conjecture establishes that the commencement of childhood experiences forms the adult into an serial killer. The purpose of the research is to analyze the mental, emotional, and physical state of a serial killer. Therefore, acknowledging their justification for committing crimes is the primary topic of the research.…
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies writes about the ideas of people’s personalities and the evil within the human heart. Set within an island, a group of young boys set out to survive and be rescued; however, it is later seen how the boys end up being wild and savage when they’re left without adult supervision. Golding depicts Simon as a scapegoat whose exceptional persona on an island of chaos and anarchy makes him a target for the stranded boys’ hatred/evil. Starting early on in the novel, Simon shows a caring, generous personality, which becomes a stigma that he is “unique” in comparison to the other boys. Even though the norm for the biguns on the beach was to ignore or not help the littluns; Simon was different in that, “Simon found…