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Character Analysis Of Roger

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In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Roger's character represents sadism, where he acquires pleasure from the pain or suffering of others. In the novel, Golding uses a series of events to show the development of sadistic behavior of an individual right before the reader's eyes. As time lengthens on the island, Roger's behavior takes a downfall, turning him from an anti-social, civil human being to a vicious, monstrous sociopath who harms, and eventually, murders the innocent. Since there are no adults on the island, there is no one to control Roger's sadistic behavior, leaving the rest of the boys on the island at risk of abuse.

Roger's name first appears in an early scene where the remaining male survivors of the plane crash come …show more content…

Roger stalks Henry as a prey and gathers stones to throw at the boy, but when he throws them, he purposely misses. Deep down, despite his mercilessness, the "taboo of the old life" is still present, as well as "protection of parents and school and policemen and the law," (pg. 65). At this point of the novel, the inhumanity in Roger further develops, yet proceeds with insufficient guilt.

Several more events, such as the events in Chapter 7, "Shadows and Tall Trees" and Chapter 8, "Gift for the Darkness," contribute to the peak of Roger's loss of sanity. A scene in Chapter 7 includes where all the boys playfully grab Robert, who mocks a helpless pig prey. Roger, who is behind Jack, is "fighting to get close," (pg. 125), to the struggling boy. Afterward, In Chapter 8, after an outburst between Ralph, Jack's new tribe go out and hunt for pigs. Lucky for them, they find a mother pig with piglets. In this scene, Golding emphasizes Roger's bloodlust for the death of the pigs. Roger is the first to kill a piglet, and soon when it comes to the mother pig, Roger is the boy who does the most destruction. He prods with his spear whenever pig flesh appears, and eventually leans his weight on his spear, piercing the poor sow. Lastly, by Jack's command and with no hesitation, Roger grabs the decapitated head of the sow and pushes the spear through its head for display and as a gift for the Beast. The participation in the

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