Hidden Age Bias


Ever notice how kids, teens, and or young adults  aren't always taken that seriously by their parents or other authority figures? It has a lot to do with the way grown up or anyone older than another perceive the words of kids just because of their age just like how when the naval officer who came to save the boys that were stuck on the island, the officer took a bit of time believing whether the kid was lying, jocking, or if the truth was apart of its imagination. But this isn't just a one way kind of thing because older people are bias based to. The ages of the characters in the book, Lord of the flies have a direct effect on the relationship of the characters.

In the book “Lord of the flies” written by William Golding, towards the end there is a scene in chapter 12 where help finally comes for the boys and as the naval officer ask about the amount of deaths. When Ralph tells him and he is a bit skeptical. “Nobody killed, I hope? Any dead bodies?” “only two. And they’ve gone. The officer leaned down and looked closely at Ralph. “Two? Killed? Ralph nodded again, behind him, the whole  island was shuddering with flame. The officer knew as a rule, when people were telling the truth. He whistled softly. Ageism is shown in this scene when the naval officer underestimated the kids and was sceptical about anyone being killed. The officer didn’t believe Ralph at first (201).

The definition of ageism is “prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person's age”. Bias means the reason why that you would lean towards a decision and or lean away from it. In society, adults are given more power and opportunity in the world such as things like driving, drinking, and voting. Another example is when people say “respect your elders”. With this placement that adults are put into it is common for the words of kids, teens, and anyone not with the mindset of an adult to be overlooked. Sometimes kids are not believed, their concerns are put to the side, or they are thought as over reacting.  For example with the Job Market, According to the Washington Post Article Baby Boomers are finding many complications when it comes to looking for occupations and are being discriminated against while finding jobs. Interpreted as bossy and unlikely to take leadership from younger bosses and companies discouraged by health care costs for older employees. That shows ageism for both Older and younger people exposed to this type of bias.

For a second example in the book, all the main parts of the book that happen regarding the leaders, tribe, or group is mostly focused on the older kids and not the little uns (young people)  are typically written about. It is just made obvious that they are there but that's pretty much it for them. All the main characters and big parts of the story are older. An example of this in the book is when the position of chief is being decided when the conch is being passed around. Jack spoke.” We've gotta decide about being rescued.” There was a buzz. One of the small boys, Henry, said that he wanted to go home. “SHut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.”  “A chief! A chief!” “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “ because Im chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” (22)

There are many events, themes, and systems that are in the book that can relate to the real world. Ageism isn't exactly the biggest one of them all and isn't seen a lot but I like this topic that might have been looked over by most. The older people in the book are put in a higher place in everything, even with power, responsibility, and authority and that's pretty much how are society runs today with adults on top and the youth second hand. The book has a lot of connections and similarities to today's society even in the conditions that the young boys are placed in.

Comments (9)

Ahmed Ahmed (Student 2019)
Ahmed Ahmed

I was already convinced that adults had ageism bias towards youngsters. The examples were great and really helped prove your thesis. You had a great selection giving evidence!

Ahmed Ahmed (Student 2019)
Ahmed Ahmed

I was already convinced that adults had ageism bias towards youngsters. The examples were great and really helped prove your thesis. You had a great selection giving evidence!

Ahmed Ahmed (Student 2019)
Ahmed Ahmed

I was already convinced that adults had ageism bias towards youngsters. The examples were great and really helped prove your thesis. You had a great selection giving evidence!

Larissa Pahomov (Teacher)
Larissa Pahomov

I think the most interesting part of this paper is the way that you think about the ways that ageism exists in society, in which adults can dominate/have greater choice over children, as opposed to in the world of the book, in which older children have more agency over younger children. I am really curious about the role that life experience has in conjunction with all of this. When, if ever, does more experience make people more capable or more deserving of greater power? I think it was interesting that you started to consider this question in your writing. —Ms. Tsacoyeanes

Majo Bostani (Student 2019)
Majo Bostani

This piece did, in fact, convince me that ageism is not only present in the book, but also in the real world. Ilike how you applied a theme that was discussed earlier on in the year and discussed it in Lord of the Flies. I feel like when adults tell kids that they are too young to understand is another example of ageism.

Carolina Ortiz-Lugo (Student 2019)
Carolina Ortiz-Lugo

I like the approach that you took with this essay. I don't really think that I thought much of the ageism that goes on in the book, but now that you pointed it out I seem to realize it a little bit more. Like I'm not really able to see that it played a big role in the Lord of The Flies as well as here in school. I think that an interesting situation to use as an example would have been in a school situation or just in general when students or younger people are always told to learn from something that happens, but adults don't always follow that way of thinking and do not want to acknowledge their flaws.

Aysha Siddiquee (Student 2019)
Aysha Siddiquee

This piece did convince me that adults can be biased too. The use of evidence from the text was smart since they helped support the thesis and make it stronger. So there was a smart choice of selection when it came to choosing the evidence.