The Island in Lord of the Flies by Golding Compared to our World Today

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Research shows that half of the children in our world have been or are being bullied. Out of all those children bullied only one out of ten of them will report it. The dictionary defines bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated over time” (Bully Definition” 1). Bullies have many characteristics such as rivalry, competitive behavior, and aggression. In Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, Jack can be considered the antagonist because he has many characteristics of a bully. One of the lines that stuck out was “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding, William” 152). Right after these lines were chanted one of the main characters Simon was brutally murdered. Bullying is a major issue between the boys on the island, and it is still a major issue in today’s society.
Bullying can be broken down into four different groups: physical, verbal, covert, and cyber. Physical bullying includes kicking, pushing, hitting, pinching, tripping, and damaging property. Verbal bullying includes name calling, teasing, intimidation, insults, and homophobic or racist remarks. Covert bullying harms social reputation and causes social humiliation. Kids achieve that by lying, spreading rumors, excluding someone, giving other people dirty faces, or using physical gestures to offend someone (“Four Kinds of Bullying” 1). Cyberbullying, considered the worst out of the four, is bullying using modern technology. It includes embarrassing or rude text messages, e-mails, taunting posts on social networks, or the creation of fake profiles on social media (“What is Cyberbullying” 1). Though all of the...

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...he book, William Golding, is trying to show people that though we are looking for evil on the outside, the true evil is inside us. This can be shown through all of the bullying today. Though some of the boys made it off the island safe, the stay on the island will affect their life forever, just like bullying affects kids now and it will forever.

Works Cited

"Bullying Definition." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
"More Province of Nova Scotia." What to Do If You Are Being Bullied. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
"National Centre Against Bullying." Four Kinds of Bullying. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
“Seaman, Andrew M. "Effects of Bullying May Add up in Kids: Study." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014
"What Is Cyberbullying." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014
“Why Do People Bully?" - Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014

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