Since no adults were present on the island, this book shows what children would do in the situation, with many mini-situations to build up the main situation, without being influenced by adults’ advice. Since adult minds are most developed, they would take more responsible decisions, unlike the children on the island. The decisions made were made by the children’s psychological mindsets. The psychological mindsets of the children are influenced by starvation, hunting, and war.
Starvation affects the mental state of mind, more exaggerated in children. It is proven multiple times that starvation does indeed in fact impact the mental state of anyone. Children’s minds are not quite completely developed, so it affects the children in a more harsh way. In a study done on how starvation affects the brain, “Participants reported a decline in concentration, comprehension and judgment capabilities” (Kaplan). On the island, this is developed over time. In the beginning, Jack states “Ralph, I’ll split up the choir-my hunters, that is- into groups, and we’ll we responsible for keeping the fire going-”(34). This quote …show more content…
As mentioned previously, the boys start to act more like wild animals. During the pig hunt, they enjoyed killing the pig. As time progresses, the hunting starts to become more frequent. Robert pretended to be a pig (102). After they enjoy the game, Jack suggests using a littlun and everyone laughs, where no one considers it as a wrong act. This is stating the boys have lost their sense of sensitivity and civility. Soon, the hunting gets more intense, where the boys are killing the pig as if they are doing it for their lives (119). Many may think this is intense but, as the book progresses, instead of hunting pigs, they start to hunt people. The people are their own friends. One example is when the boys mistake Simon for the beast and start to hunt him when they are in a trance (136-137). The next day, when Ralph tries to tell Piggy, who symbolizes knowledge, that what they did was murder, Piggy fails to accept that fact. By this time, knowledge has failed and is no longer present on the island. Even if Ralph acknowledges that they murdered someone, this does not stop it from happening again. This time Piggy is the one that lives no more. All of these actions, let it be with animals or humans, are still classified as hunting. Hunting in this extreme level makes it so the boys are considered savages. Hunting is also an act of molestation (Clifton). The molestation is taking part of this