Case V. Jack Merridew

Good morning, ladies and gentleman of the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales. I am Madeleine Foutes, Defense Attorney for my client, Mr. Jack Merridew. Mr. Merridew, along with a plane’s worth of fellow British schoolboys, were marooned on an island located in the South Pacific Ocean after their plane was struck with a bomb from the ongoing war. Unfortunately, none of the adults on the flight survived the crash, which left the boys to fend for themselves. Some of the older boys, my client included, took the initiative to set up a system of governing themselves while on the island. While Mr. Merridew was not elected chief of the boys, Mr. Ralph Williams, who was named chief, appointed my client in charge of the hunters. Naturally,

Similarly to the charge involving Peter Edwards, Mr. Merridew is not guilty because of his insanity when the attempt on Ralph’s life took place. After Peter’s death, Ralph fled from Jack’s tribe. As previously demonstrated by his cry of victory after Peter’s death, Mr. Merridew no longer made any connection between death and emotion. Mr. Merridew knew only that he wanted complete control over the boys as he and his tribe pursued Mr. Williams. No person willingly performs acts he considers wrong. Instead a person does what he believes is right. However, in the case of my client, he had no idea of what was morally right or wrong and only knew what action would result with him having power. Boys live in a world driven by a desire for power (Kindlon, 73) and when ethics are stripped away, a need for dominance is all that remains. Jack Merridew was a victim of his desire for power and simultaneously was stripped of his understanding of right and wrong.
Conversely, I understand the prosecution’s argument. The prosecution claims that Jack was perfectly capable of differentiating right from wrong. Evidence is cited from a very early point in Mr. Merridew’s time on the island, “ ‘We’ll have rules!’ [Jack] cried excitedly. ‘Lot’s of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em—’” (Golding, 33). Although Jack may have had a sense of ethics from his life prior to the crash, it did not last for long. The constant presence of fear and competition drove my client to insanity. Both incidents Jack Merridew was charged with occurred well into the boys’ residency on the