Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Could the boys be transforming into a more non human mindset?
On page 145, the beginning of chapter nine, Simon asks the group, "'What else is there to do?'" Golding follows up that question with, "Nothing replied." I took note of this because Golding does not refer to ten year olds as people; he refers to them as items, or things. This made me wonder if the boys are transforming into such an uncivilized state that they can no longer be considered people. Would they be able to revert to dealing with "real" people if rescued?
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2 comments:
Yes, i do think that the boys are transforming into a more "instinctive" mindset rather then a "human" like mindset. The human mindset is more conservative and constructed, rather than survival based. The boys continue to act more "non human" as they act more barbaric. Their less civilized manner is shown as soon as they get on the island and increases the more time they are there. In chapter 9 simon is killed in the most non human way possible the boys believe he is a monster and the way they handle its presence is by scratching and biting the creature until it is dead (the creature at this point being simon). They still have their human mindset some of the time but it is waring off more and more as the boys become animals in need of surviving.
Looking back on the end of the novel i think that it is evident that the boys de-evolved enough that they no longer were able to act properly around other people. Once ralph came upon the officer in the woods he was basically dumbstruck by seeing another human being, his only reaction was to weep and clutch the officer. In those times, at Ralph's age it was seen as non cochier? for a boy to cry and grasp another person in this manner. Ralph was supposed to be becoming a man at this point in his life, the weeping showed how he was still a child and how he wasnt able to fathom the thought of being able to excape. The other boys, once they came upon the officer, did the same thing as Ralph.
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