“The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee… Piggy fell forty feet and landed opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed” (Golding 181). As anyone could tell, Piggy’s death was anything but peaceful. His death, caused by Roger, was a violent and bloody one, as depicted by William Golding in his novel, Lord of the Flies. A class of boys become stranded on an island with no adults, however Golding describes the island as a paradise with all the necessities.
Eventually, they stay on the island for so long, with no community structure, that some start becoming savages. These few delight in being superior to the others, and some go crazy with the power of killing something and having control over over someone’s life. This description would fit specifically for a boy named Roger. In regards to Piggy’s death, Roger is fully responsible for killing him. To begin with, Roger had known what he had done and could fully comprehend the extent of what he had just committed.
From “Psychology of Child Murderers” many boys around Roger’s age “have killed or attempted to kill another person during their teenage year… In speaking with them, most seem to recall having understood the nature of their actions” (Mauro 1). Marisa Mauro is a prison psychologist who talks to killers, specifically child murderers. When she questions some young men, they told her that while they were killing, or trying to kill, someone, they had fully understood what they were doing and knew that they were doing something extremely wrong.
They all knew and understood that they were committing a felony, and that if caught, there would be some serious repercussions. Nobody would argue that at the age that Roger was, that he would not be able to understand what he did, from “The Age of Reason; A Chilling Crime and a Question,” “The two boys who were convicted last week of gunning down classmates and a teacher… were then just 11 and 13… Few would argue with the assumption that, at that stage in their lives, they ought to be capable of understanding their actions and the consequences” (Sachs 1).
Susan Sachs wrote that at around the age Roger is, around 13, nobody would even argue with that assumption that boys his age can understand what they are doing and the consequences that those actions will have. They would be able to understand what will come from those horrendous actions they have committed. From this, anyone would be able to come to the conclusion that Roger was fully aware of the wrongdoing that he was executing. He was entirely conscious of the fact that he was engaging in an activity that was extremely illegal.
Boys Roger’s age could comprehend and are fully aware of their actions, so Roger would have been able to tell exactly what he was doing and could tell that he was doing something terrible. He would have to also know that since he was doing something illegal, that there would be severe consequences. Secondly, Roger had intended to end Piggy’s life. Thus intentionally becoming a murderer, by the mere definition of murder, “‘the killing of a human being by another human being with malice aforethought. ‘Malice’ is found if the individual possesses any one of the four states of mind; the intention to kill a human being, the intention to inflict grievous bodily injury on another, an extremely reckless disregard for the value of human life, or the intention to commit a felony during the commission or attempted commission of which a death results” (Mauro 1). This is the law definition of murder, and it explains what classifies a murderer, a murderer.
It then goes into more depth by explaining parts of the definition for a murderer, going further into what malice actually means and how someone can be identified if they used malice in anything. Roger had the intention of killing Piggy by “throwing stones: Roger was dropping them, his one hand still on the lever… High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever… The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee” (Golding 180-181). Roger had purposely leaned on the lever that he knew would cause the rock to roll down the hill.
He had escalated from just throwing somewhat small stones at them, towards causing a huge rock to roll down the hill, heading straight for Piggy. Considering he was in a place called Castle Rock, it should be expected that there would be tons of rocks to choose from that would not hit Piggy. Yet, he picked that rock specifically to push down, showing that he had the intention to kill or at least hurt Piggy. The definition told by Marisa Mauro, gave everything needed to show that Roger had murdered Piggy. Anybody would just need to look at the definition at malice, Roger matches with many of those mindsets.
These two quotes show that Roger had had malice in his actions when he killed Piggy, because he had the intention to kill Piggy by leaning onto the stick, meaning that he did not value Piggy’s life enough to spare him. He had no real reason to kill Piggy, it was completely possible that they agree to terms and talk out a solution. Roger had killed him with the intention to do so and had done it without being pushed to the absolute boundary that is needed to kill someone. Therefore, Roger is a murderer and completely at fault for the death of Piggy.
However, some may say that Roger was pushed to coming to this situation and he would never do it again, on the other hand Roger had hurt people even before killing Piggy and will want to continue hurting people. From the “Why Boys Become Vicious” article, “Is it also true that the capacity of the young male to maim and torture is somehow connected to his long-forgotten beginning as a hunter and killer… We are born with evil in us and cruelty is a part of this… But what must be true is that we can be twisted and distorted beyond recognition…” (Golding 1).
Everyone is born with this cruelty and evilness inside of them, and it could turn people into unrecognizable people, even to themselves. Young males have a part of their ancestry of being hunters and killers, it is where they came from. From their ancestry of killing and that natural part of cruelty inside of everyone, boys have a part of their history where they were meant to be killers and hunters. Added to that, Roger has this sadistic mindset in which he hurts people to compelling them to do what he wants, “‘-they made us. They hurt us-’… ‘They hate you, Ralph.
They’re going to do you. ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow. ’… ‘You don’t know Roger. He’s a terror. ’… ‘But what are you going to do when you catch me? ’… ‘Roger sharpened a stick at both ends’” (Golding 188-190). This is a piece of dialogue between Sam and Eric and Ralph. Roger had hurt Sam and Eric in order to force them into joining their tribe. There was always a tension between Jack and Roger and Ralph. This tension grows thicker when Jack and Roger decide to hunt down Ralph to eliminate their problem. Even though both Jack and Roger would have been considered terrors, Roger was moreso.
Not only was Roger blood thirsty, but he had vicious ideas. Earlier, it was shown that he had stuck a pig’s head on a stake and then stuck it into the ground, and the stick was sharpened at both ends. Henceforth, anybody would be able to tell what Roger had planned for Ralph. He intended to kill Ralph by hunting him down and then sticking his head onto a stake. He enjoys hurting people, by the fact that he was going to decapitate Ralph and then put it on a stick like a trophy of some sort. All people have this cruelty and evilness in them, however most do not even recognize that side of them.
Yet, Roger completely embraces that side of him and uses it to his advantage. Altogether, Roger had full comprehension and was completely aware of his actions and he is able to know that he had just committed a serious felony. In addition, he completely had malice aforethought in the death of Piggy. Furthermore, Roger will has hurt people before, therefore he shall continue the pattern and carry on hurting people. All in all, Roger should be held completely accountable for the murder of Piggy. Murder is not an action done unconsciously or mistakenly, there is a part of the human nature that drives people to become killers.