Roger Decisions In Lord Of The Flies

In Lord of the Flies, the boys are stuck on an unknown island that causes them to make irrational decisions. Without the structure of a government, Roger uses this new found freedom to do things he normally wasn’t able to do. Although his actions proceed to have consequences, as he tends to negatively harm those around him. Roger’s selfish actions highlight the evil that tends to lie within humanity. However, at first Roger tends to go to unnoticed. He only spoke when necessary and “kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy” (Golding 22). We come to the conclusion that this secrecy is due to him being evil, in the sense he likes to hurt people. Roger thrives off the pain of others. This secrecy allows him to do things in which he doesn’t have to obtain feedback from others. He differs from Jack
who wants to hunt, but still carries a little bit of innocence. He never feels a hint of remorse from the intensity of his actions. Roger holds a pure maliciousness that only the island could bring out, as a result of the lack of stability from a firm civilization. Furthermore, we can see how he targets the littluns because they are much weaker than him. After Roger begins to torment the littluns, his true nature is revealed. He threw rocks at one boys and destroyed sand castles made by the littluns by “kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones” (Golding 60). Maurice the other boy who also knocked the sand castles down begins to feel remorseful when one of the little boy begins to cry. Yet, Roger didn't feel any sort of regret for what he did. We can see he lacks morals and he can’t control himself causing him to make iillogical decisions. Eventually, we are able to see how Roger’s behavior progressively gets worse the longer he is on the island.
He is the leading cause that one of the boys ends up losing his life. Roger was so far past self control he simply “leaned all his weight on the lever” (Golding 180). He made the decision to push the rock over the ledge, knowing quite frankly it would seriously injure/kill Ralph or Piggy. He impulsively made that decision just because he couldn’t accept the fact Ralph and Piggy didn't agree with him and Jack. His actions cause the death of Piggy and shows that he has no mercy. Piggy’s death was the first and only death that were caused by murder. Afterwards we are able to see how even other boys are able to notice the evil characteristics Roger has picked up. They no longer feel as threatened by Jack compared to Roger, because “He’s a terror” (Golding 189). Roger becomes more prevalent towards the end of the novel since he becomes so consumed by the darkness. Roger is someone who they can perceive as psychotic, since he inflicts pain into others for his own gain. His actions can be compared to war when enemy's torture their
opponent. Roger’s character accentuates the evil that exists in human nature. Evil exists in all humans, and it’s in human nature to feel the need to inflict harm towards others. Roger’s character is an extreme example of how without the rules of a civilization, they lose compassion and turn to savage ways. We need to realize people like Simon are the reasons why there are wars because they are blood thirsty. Although they had bigger issue like getting off the island, they rather kill each other off instead of working together. This can be seen in many of the wars we go into.