Genie Wiley and PTSD as Related to Lord of the Flies by Simon Levien

Independent film about the life of Genie Wiley

Genie Wiley is the pseudonym for probably the most famous feral child, and without real human contact for a long time growing up, she displayed irreversible damage. She couldn't walk correctly, understand basic concepts, or even speak. The critical development period for language learning closed before she was rescued by authorities and put in a hospital. They tried teaching her basic sounds and nouns, but she could not speak beyond that. Her abusive parents locked her up in a room for years, where no one talked to her, and all she got was food through a slit in the door every now and then. They tied her to the toilet for most of her life.

Genie is now 59 years old and living as a recluse in a community in California under special care. Clearly, her early conditions have scarred her life beyond repair. Though drastic, the story of Wiley, as well PTSD, are good examples of what the rescued boys in William Golding's Lord of the Flies may have experienced.

On the island, the boys encounter constant violence and savagery; they are dehumanized and now accustomed to gore. Of course, this is not normal and will likely have negative effects on their health after rescue. You would expect that upon rescue, which the boys initially thought of as their ultimate goal, they would celebrate their survival. But by the end of all of their savagery and "fun and games" as the officer put it, all they could do was sob. All the boys had no other response, evidently traumatized by the events on the island.

Ralph wept specifically for the "end of innocence and the darkness of a man's heart" implying that their lives would never be the same, and their childhood, though they are still in it as little kids, would be a childhood no more. I'm sure most of the littluns wouldn't be as affected by the chaos on the island (hopefully not remembering much). But as for Ralph and Jack and many of the biguns, they would have needed counseling and probably a psychologist. I could easily see Ralph falling into depression after these events took place. Even on the island as Jack took power, he began to lose hope, the only things that kept him through it were Simon and Piggy, who are both dead and gone. Many of them would likely have PTSD-like symptoms like flashbacks, which especially so young, can cause serious developmental problems, as if participating in hysteria on the island isn't scarring enough. All of their psychological issues that may come about from Golding's social experiment will only be worsened by the fact that they're just growing kids. Though not as horrific or traumatic, the boys in their later years would definitely have problems similar to soldiers and Genie herself.

Genie at the hospital displayed a "bunny walk" without learning gait on her own.