The Troop

The Troop complicates the binary between childhood and adulthood, which are often defined as two separate and distinct categories, with adults taking care of children, and children being forbidden from certain activities to ensure their safety. While the novel hashes out several ways in which “adults” and “children” are supposed to act differently from each other, most of these “differences” erode as the children witness more and more instances of adults not acting like “adults.” Scoutmaster Tim can’t cure the stranger’s illness or protect himself and the boys from catching it. Falling ill, Tim morphs from an adult into someone who is weaker and less rational than most of the boys (excepting Shelley). Now lacking the traits that once made him an adult and a leader in the boys’ eyes, Tim is relegated to the closet, as if he is a toddler being placed in time out. The boys’ faith in adults continues to dwindle when the man who was supposed to pick them up in his boat never shows and, thereafter, no adults from the mainland arrive to rescue them. Even after Max escapes the island and returns to a civilization full of adults, they can’t or won’t help him thrive like he expected they would.