In his excerpt for The Examiner “Why Boys Become Vicious”, award winning author Sir William Golding implies that people's reasons for evil, regardless of whether they were born with cruelty or their situation brought it out, is greatly affected by their home environment, social situation, fear, and chaos. This stand ties into one of the oldest debates in the history of psychology is the Nature vs Nurture which centers around whether a person's development is predisposed in his DNA, or a majority of it is influenced by early environment and development. The research of multiple psychologists and scientists, as well as the abundance of examples of children who have openly exhibited the cruelty Golding refers to, validate his claim.
Golding argues …show more content…
“To contemplate that deed, as we must if we are to live in the real world and not little worlds of our own making,” Golding writes, “is to face a peculiarly stark form of horror. And the cruelty behind it is nothing if not complex(Golding 2).” The complexity of evil is visible in the nature of the young boys. A large factor can be due to the toxic environments both boys have grown up in. Jon Venables’ mother Susan had a serious problem with depression who was painted as a woman with loose moral whose neighbours noted a steady procession of different men every day. Robert Thompson was the fifth of seven children of Ann Thompson, a single mother and an alcoholic. the murderers were in the age range of 10-11. Their level of confidence and maturity at this age may be what brought them to carry out the murders. The murderers came from unstable backgrounds, yet the boys involved in James Bulger's murder had never been around death. They escalated from shoplifting to murder. The methods in killing the boys also reflect different things. Venables and Thompson took the time to torture Bulger and even set it up to look as though he had been killed by the train making it pre-meditated. Golding has always tried his best to warn society of the results on the youth if they are not surrounded by strong and loving adults. “If …show more content…
He warns society of the devastating effects of growing up in a toxic environment and how it has continued to plague society throughout history. There is always the choice to give in to our evil nature and hide behind the excuse that our genes leave no choice but if our children are being taught to overcome this evil then it is the responsibility of society as a whole to make that
Golding argues …show more content…
“To contemplate that deed, as we must if we are to live in the real world and not little worlds of our own making,” Golding writes, “is to face a peculiarly stark form of horror. And the cruelty behind it is nothing if not complex(Golding 2).” The complexity of evil is visible in the nature of the young boys. A large factor can be due to the toxic environments both boys have grown up in. Jon Venables’ mother Susan had a serious problem with depression who was painted as a woman with loose moral whose neighbours noted a steady procession of different men every day. Robert Thompson was the fifth of seven children of Ann Thompson, a single mother and an alcoholic. the murderers were in the age range of 10-11. Their level of confidence and maturity at this age may be what brought them to carry out the murders. The murderers came from unstable backgrounds, yet the boys involved in James Bulger's murder had never been around death. They escalated from shoplifting to murder. The methods in killing the boys also reflect different things. Venables and Thompson took the time to torture Bulger and even set it up to look as though he had been killed by the train making it pre-meditated. Golding has always tried his best to warn society of the results on the youth if they are not surrounded by strong and loving adults. “If …show more content…
He warns society of the devastating effects of growing up in a toxic environment and how it has continued to plague society throughout history. There is always the choice to give in to our evil nature and hide behind the excuse that our genes leave no choice but if our children are being taught to overcome this evil then it is the responsibility of society as a whole to make that