Is Hooper Completely Evil?

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection,” (Sigmund Freud). Edmund Hooper, at the age of ten, is already treated by his father like an adult. He does not care for him like other fathers do. He does not talk with him like others have conversations with their sons. He does not play with him, laugh with him and most importantly love him. Mirroring what Sigmund Freud so rightly says, Hooper, not being properly loved or looked after for by his own father, not having a mother anymore, does not receive all the needed attention. He cannot become a man, himself, capable of loving in return if that is something he has never experienced. In ‘I’m the King of the Castle’, Susan Hill shows the cruelty of children despite parental belief that hatred at such young ages is impossible, yet she explains this behaviour by unhealthy and disorderly pasts because of foolish, ignorant parents.

When the reader first encounters Hooper in the novel, a certain sense of pity can be felt for him as they find out about, not only the death of both his grandparents, but also of his mother, six years previously. These hardships that this boy went through permit the reader to understand, at some points in the novel, his desire for isolation and, to a certain extent, his behaviour. Indeed, far into the novel, a moment of empathy can be felt inwards Hooper as he screams for his mother in the darkness of Hang Wood. Despite his cold and cruel behaviour, we find out that underneath a thick layer of spitefulness, there may actually be a little boy in need of love. However, at the beginning when Mr Hooper communicates his intention of inviting a young companion for his son, when he seems to think that he is lonely, Hoop...

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...evolent and barbaric deeds. This suggests that the parents may actually be worse people than Hooper himself as they are the source of his misdeeds. Yet, a feeling of Hooper’s insecurity is communicated to the reader by the relentlessness of his transgressions which may cause them, upon consideration, to pity this boy who feels compelled to watch a stranger who has invaded his space.

Upon reflection, despite Hooper’s wicked behaviour, he is not completely evil. Hooper has some evil aspects about him like his torturing Kingshaw relentlessly, but it appears to be a shield behind which he can hide and avoid emotional pain. Additionally, Hooper cannot be entirely evil, because, deep down in his heart, the reader can see he appears to be aching about his mother’s death. Most importantly, no bully can ever be entirely evil, just as no person can ever be completely good.