Varying Perspectives of Killing: Jack from Lord of the Flies Vs.The Barber from “just Lather, That's All”

The question of why people may become murderers has been asked many times. Whether it is hereditary, chemical in nature, or for another reason, the answer is unclear. One possibility is that a person develops into a murderer through their upbringing, and present situation. Two examples of this are Jack from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies who becomes a murderer, and the barber from Hernando Tellez's, “Just Lather That’s All” who holds back from murder. It is because of their role in their group, their societal upbringing as well as their reasons to potentially commit murder, that they have different perspectives on killing; resulting in the varying choices they make.

In the stories, the group-roles of the characters cause them to have different perspectives on killing. In the case of the barber, he is part of a revolutionary group for which he is a spy, but not a murderer: “I'm a revolutionary and not a murderer.” (Tellez, 16) Jack on the other hand is part of a group of boys who are stranded on a remote island. His job is to hunt from the beginning of the book: “Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be--what do you want them to be? Hunters.” (Golding, 19) As their roles in their groups varied, so did their perspectives on killing. The barber felt it wasn’t his role in his group to kill the Captain, while Jack was the lead hunter of his group and murder was promoted in his mind from the beginning.

The characters motives for murder also shaped their perspectives of killing. The barber would have killed Captain Torres for the sake of the revolutionary group he was part of. However, there were risks that came with killing the captain: “I would have to flee, leaving all I have behind, and take refuge far away, far, far away. But they would follow until they found me.” (Tellez, 16) Jack on the other hand, was mainly driven with the force of his own selfish reasons to be highly regarded among the boys, to get another chance at being leader. As seen in these stories as well as in human nature, a selfish motive is usually more motivating than a motive to help others; Jack decided to kill, while the barber decided not to because of the risks that were involved.

The societal upbringing of the two characters also