Chapter 8 Lord Of The Flies Persuasive Essay

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? Lord of the Flies pushes the reader to think about this exact question. Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in the 1950s. Many people opposed the novel because the novel touched many sensitive and taboo subjects. One of these taboo subjects was if children were capable of murder. The taboo subject was brought to light in Chapter 9 when the boys killed Simon. After the encounter with the Lord of the Flies, Simon went up the mountain …show more content…
The term, according to the Legal Information Institute, is defined as “intentionally killing another person in the heat of passion and in response to adequate provocation.” The lads attacked Simon in the heat of passion. The dangerous trance or passion is described in the following imagery, “The blue-white scar was constant, the noise unendurable. Simon was crying out something about a dead man on the hill,” (152 Golding). The quote contributes with the claim that the boys committed voluntary manslaughter since it describes a very agitated setting. Furthermore, the British boys cannot claim that the murder was self-defense. To plead self-defence, Simon had to be the one who made the first movie, but it was clearly not him, since the novel states, “The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face,” (152 Golding). In the quote, Golding states how the boys attacked Simon first. Additionally, Simon even showed signs of weaknesses when “[his] arms folded over [his] face,” (152 Golding). The beast would not have shown any weaknesses since it was described as big and devilish. Finally, the boys would be convicted of voluntary manslaughter in a British court, since they were older enough to take responsibility. According to the GOV.UK website, children “between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime.” In the novel, Golding gives many hints that the boys, in exception of the littluns, range in age from 10 to 12. Therefore, in a British court, the boys would be pledge guilty by the jury. Additionally, some people might oppose the idea that the boys would receive charges for murdering Simon, since what they did is considered an imperfect self-defense. Imperfect self-defense is an excuse used in a court of law whereby the defendant, who is sentenced for a crime that involves the use of