Boston Globe Article

There was an article in the Boston Globe last week that my mom suggested I should read. This article was published on September 20th and was titled The literature of bullying. It discusses how many famous books revolve around the underlying theme of bullying, and mentioned novels such as Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies, both of which we read in English class last year. The author of the article, Joan Wickersham, mentions that the bystanders are one of the worst aspects of bullying, because it creates a message saying that bullying is okay. In Lord of the Flies, the boys turn into a violent and torturous mob because none of them feel powerful enough to stand up to the leader and stop the cruel acts. The author mentions that a more subtle theme of bullying is shown in Catcher in the Rye, part of the reason Holden feels the need to protect innocence throughout the story is because of a boy who committed suicide due to the bullies at his prep school. After this, Wickersham states that, "we need to read them [these books],and teach them in our schools,with fresh eyes." These novels can be used now, in present times, to show that bullying has always been a problem and how it is a prevalent theme in literature, even though some may not recognize it while reading.