Lord Of The Flies Death Analysis

“High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” without the knowledge of his consequences in a mind of isolation, and kills a fellow boy named Piggy (Golding 180). In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a large group of boys are stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. The boys initially assume order and organization, but as time goes on their tie to society starts to fall apart. The boys start to practice savagery as they forget how life is like in a civilization. One of the boys named Jack is the leader of a “savage-tribe” that encourages hunting and killing. A member in Jack’s tribe named Roger is pressured by the savage-like ways around him to push a rock over a hill so that it would fall on another boy named Piggy. This kills Piggy as the rock knocks him over a cliff to his death. However, Roger is not guilty for Piggy’s death because

He viciously kills pigs for food, slits their throat and even decapitates one to offer it to the beast. In addition, he actively participated in the murder of Simon by ordering the savage dance. He also bears responsibility for the death of Piggy, as Roger’s influence and beliefs are shaped by Jack. Therefore, the savage and vicious actions that Jack has taken proves that he has truly lost his

Humans are capable of living peacefully because they are born pure. When the corruption of society approaches and influences one’s morality, they become progressively evil. The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a tragedy which explores the hardships of young boys that are stranded on an island during World War II, and are forced to create a new civilization as it is crucial for their survival. The downfall of their fate is not just a result of their lack of experience, but due to the profound savagery in humanity. The murder of Simon and Piggy are deeds that Golding uses to portray the cruelty of the boys as they lose their compassion. In addition, Roger and Jack are seen as sadists, because as they

He “led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones,” only to remain, “watching the littluns.” Maurice, however, “still felt the unease of wrongdoing.” Jack’s only fault was yearning for power, which corrupts those who wield it. Roger is corrupted and malevolent without ever thirsting for this power, and is therefore more evil than Jack. Roger keeps to himself, much like Simon, and remains consistently evil throughout the novel. Near the beginning, he “picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss,” held back by “the taboo of the old life.” Later, he did not miss and “with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” releasing a huge boulder and killing Piggy. Under the weight of the boulder, “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” The main symbol for the democracy, equality and justice was indirectly destroyed by Roger. To him, “Ralph was a shock of hair and Piggy a bag of fat,” thus dehumanizing and objectifying them. When Sam and Eric were cornered by Jack’s group of savages, Roger demonstrates his enjoyment for hurting others by “[advancing] upon them as one wielding a nameless authority.” It was not for the sake of supremacy or control, but for unbridled sadistic pleasure. When Ralph finds Sam and Eric, they say that Roger is “a terror”. He also points out that Jack is a terror, but the twins respond with “only

As for Piggy’s death at Roger’s hands, it could be blamed by the diffident Roger’s innately sadistic behaviour that merely inured to a land that

Jack meets Ralph on the beach after the first hunt, and “[Ralph says,] ‘The best thing we can do is get ourselves rescued.’ Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was. ‘Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I’d like to catch a pig first’” (Golding 53). The boys have only been on the island for a few weeks, and have already lost touch with what society would place as priority. When Piggy dies, they have been on the island for months on end. The boys are stretched to the breaking point. They are near the point of insanity. Society acts as a lifeline, a tether that people cling to every day. It instills ideals, acceptable behavior, and keeps the animal that resides inside everyone at bay. Roger’s grasp on the tether slips, and he continues to float further away everyday that he remains on the island. Add the fact that he is young, and the responsibility he may have melts into his old life. Roger is not aware of the consequences of leaning on the lever to drop the rock. He has no reason to even think about the possibilities. Without society, people become anarchic and unable to function with deliberate thought. Roger develops an identical thought process long before Piggy dies. He simply cannot be held responsible with the situation that he is

The self-restricted actions of Roger before savagery fully settles on the island are the result of the imposed order of everyday human life. Roger is playfully throwing stones at Henry, but does not allow any of them to hit his target. To show the importance and connection of Roger’s actions, Golding writes, “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to threw them. Yet there was a space around Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life” (Golding 62). Roger, throwing rocks at someone to begin with, has a desire to hurt people. The “taboo of old life”, however, is able to completely restrict this desire from doing any harm, being “invisible yet strong” as well as making Roger unable to “dare” to throw a stone close to Henry. This language makes it seem as if Roger, having gone through the civilization of “old life”, is forced to

Tommy, the attorney for Jack, reinforced his justification with thought-provoking questions and authentic responses from several witnesses. For example, as the attorney for Jack was interrogating Roger, Tommy inquired, “Would you say that you were responsible for Piggy’s death?” Roger answered, “Partially.” Even though one might think Roger was copying Jack’s savage qualities, Roger was cruel and impetuous from the beginning. Undeniably, he was the sadist who killed Piggy when he pushed the boulder on top of him. It was Roger’s fault that Piggy died, all the other characters were distractions creating chaos throughout the scene. Roger was being reckless and impulsive not caring what he was doing and caused Piggy’s death. In addition, Jack’s attorney called Ralph to the stand and questioned him: “Were you responsible for the death of Simon?” Ralph replied, “Partially, I watched it happen.” Evidently, Ralph was present at the ritual dancing with the group of boys, who all contributed to the death of Simon. Because Ralph was elected leader he became the source of authority and role model for all the boys. Therefore, when Ralph began to tackle and beat Simon, everyone else mimicked his actions. Ralph and his irrational actions were responsible for the murder of Simon. Moreover, while Piggy tried to escape his share of guilt for Simon's death, Ralph accepted his part in the

According to the Missouri Statutes Section 565.021.1., “A person commits the offense of murder in the second degree if he or she: (1) Knowingly causes the death of another person or, with the purpose of causing serious physical injury to another person, causes the death of another person”. Roger is completely responsible for the death of Piggy. Roger knew exactly what the consequences could have been when he pushed the boulder, so he knew exactly what he was doing. For instance, it would take immense force to push the boulder meaning this wasn’t an accident because he would have to purposefully push it to get it off the cliff. He couldn’t just casually lean on it to get it to move. In addition, if it really was an accident, he would have been

When stalking Henry, Roger “picked up a stone, aimed, and [...] threw it to miss. [There] was a taboo of the old life [...] [his] arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was left in ruins” (62). Roger “threw to miss” mainly because he still had some empathy within him and knew that it was wrong to hurt Henry. He was thinking about the consequences when throwing; similarly, this would be the kind of behavior he would exhibit at home when about to break a rule. The adhesive effect of civilization is strong within him as he throws because he intends to miss; however, the action of Roger throwing the rock is already detrimental which signifies the growing of evil in him. The consequences were imposed by adults in “old life,” but now, there are none to impose restrictions on him. Slowly, he realizes that there is no wrong in doing such things because of the lack of real authority and begins to regress in qualities. The adults in Roger’s “old life” taught him to not throw rocks, but not the difference between right and wrong. The “state of nature” is shown when Roger performs the malevolent action of destroying sand castles and subsequently contemplating of whether to harm Henry with rocks or not. In expressing his regret, Roger is indicating that the difference between good and evil is not one that he is familiar with. Some will argue that Roger is evil because he was the one responsible for Piggy’s

In the article, it expresses that "Adolescents who share antisocial tendencies...are more likely to search for social identity in gangs". In the 'Lord of the Flies' case, there were groups that could be considered tribes, like Ralph's group, but more recently Jack's own. In chapter one, Roger was described as "...a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy". He was like this while Ralph still had control as chief, however throughout the book we see a development in character within him. In chapter eleven, we see that Jack had given him the job of keeping watch. After encountering Ralph, Piggy, Sam, and Eric, we notice that savagery has gotten the best of him when he decides to commit a crime without a care in the world. The quote "High over head, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever...the rock struck Piggy...Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea" shows Roger's cruel and true nature shortly after joining Jack's tribe. As the article says, he looked for his own identity in Jack's tribe, and found it to be very violent and harmful to those around

He shows the others no mercy. Roger participates in the killing of Simon. The boys mistake Simon for the beast but once they realize it was actually him they act like it does not bother them.Roger then participates in the torture of the littluns by beating them with sticks. Roger then sees the opportunity to kill another innocent person. Right before Piggy’s death the narrator announces, “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (Golding,180). Roger was the one that made the decision to kill Piggy. He rolled the rock toward Piggy, despite the fact that Piggy was nearly blind and defenseless according to http://blog.yssd.org/. He is the first one to intentionally kill another boy on the island when he smashed Piggy with a boulder. Roger obviously has no conscience. The twins warn Ralph at the end of the story that Roger had “sharpened a stick at both ends” (Golding,190). Roger planned to kill Ralph and place his head on a spear for the others to see. This is truly a brutal act according

Piggy’s death was specifically Roger’s fault. Roger solely decided to make his way over to the large rock and “with a sense of delirious abandonment leaned all his weight on the lever” (Golding 180). Yet Simon’s had murderers, more than one person took part in Simon’s brutal killing. Roger, Jack, Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric were all there and took part in killing what they thought at the time was the “beast”. Comparisons of these assassins indicate there was a significant difference in how much guilt was felt afterwards. Reading the conversations had by Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric the morning after there was obvious guilt that seemed to be painted across all their faces. Especially Ralph who for part of the morning while speaking to Piggy kept saying “Piggy, that was Simon, that was a murder” (Golding 156). On the other hand there is Roger, who seemed to feel no guilt. During the beginning of the book there was a glimpse of Rogers violent behavior when he was throwing stones and teasing the littluns, but from Piggy’s death to the end of the book Roger’s villainous behavior was the most prevalent it had ever been. Roger seemed to have no guilt and he was what one would call a “savage” in the way he acted. Just after killing Piggy he goes and terrorizes Samneric. Then in the end he is man hunting Ralph like a panther chasing a wild pig. Roger felt no guilt, all he seemed to show at this point was