Accountability in William Golding's Lord of the Flies Free Essay Example

Slash! Tear! Cut! Rip! Simon? “The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out…” (Golding 152). There are many deaths and attempts on lives to follow Simons in the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. These boys must be held accountable for their malicious actions on the island.  

Their actions are unacceptable due to the two almost three murders committed. The boys are not just throwing rocks at each other. They kill Simon and Piggy, “That was Simon…That was murder” (Golding 156). While yes after Simon's murder Ralph was self-aware, they all quickly dived deep into denial. Piggy’s murder, however, was intentional, “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (Golding 180). These actions show that the boys developed a malicious almost primal state. They killed Piggy brutally sending him to plunge till his inevitable hug with mother earth. For these reasons they must be held accountable. 

Some may say that the boys must not be held accountable. That the boys should be thrown back into society and forced to live normal lives. The following is a quote from the novel talking about Ralph, here it is shown he is merely an innocent boy, “but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil” (Golding 10). While at the start this is true, we see most of these boys develop into malicious monsters capable of psychological, emotional, and physical abuse. It is not just the boys only made some fires, both accidental and intentional. While that was wrong it is easily excusable, however, Jack and his boys after murdering Simon felt no remorse at all, “Tomorrow, went on the chief, “we shall hunt again” (Golding 160). This was said the morning after Simon's downfall, they continued to just live their lives “normally.” After all of this, however after Simon's death they would continue their murderous spree.  

The boys need to be held accountable for their malicious, abusive, murderous acts. They killed two young boys one with some regret and the other with none at all. After the two murders they begin to burn down the island in a hunt for Ralphs life before they are eventually rescued.