A quote from James Baldwin says, “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they never failed to imitate them.” In this quote, Baldwin is highlighting the fact that children are prone to imitate the behaviors of adults rather than listen to their commands. When in a state of desperation, the behaviors of adults will be the things children will imitate rather than the rational thinking adults tried to teach them, resulting in an imitation of the faults of adults as well as their strengths. This is demonstrated in the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Golding’s novel depicts the story of a group of young boys who find themselves stranded on an uninhabited island. As the novel progresses you can see how the…show more content… Adults play a guiding role on the island because they set the moral standard, were a symbol of civilization and placed an imperialistic view on the boys. Therefore, because the parents play a role of guidance even without a physical presence, it shows that people are prone to imitate the behaviors of those above them in times of desperation, especially when the actions aren’t right. In a situation of desperation such as the boys were in, morals are a slippery handhold onto the society of adults they left behind.
One aspect that adults usually pass on to the children around them is their view on morality, which like many other behaviors of adults, the children will try to imitate and eventually may adopt them as their own. When Piggy’s glasses are stolen by Jack and his tribe, he defaults to plead with Jack to return them on the basis of a morality that the boys all grew up within adult society. Piggy decided to state the following statement boldly in an attempt to show Jack the morality of his…show more content… This shows that children default to imitating the behaviors of adults then learning from the enforced rules and schooling. Therefore, the adults in society should strive to behave in a way that is good to be imitated by children as these behaviors will stay with them longer than the lectures at
