Analysis on Son of Satan by Charles Bukowski, 1982
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Are we born evil? Or is it something we are raised to be? Is it possible to be truly evil, do horrible things, show no remorse and not feel bad or regret your wrongdoing? Is anger such a strong feeling in some people that they have to act upon it in such ways that there is no turning back? And can a person really feel such hate for another human being just for behaving differently?
These are all questions that start to form inside your head after reading the short story Son of Satan written in 1982 by Charles Bukowski.
The story takes place in a small middle-class-type neighborhood near a larger city. It is summer, school is out and a group of three boys; the narrator, Morgan and Hass, in their early teens are sitting on the grass of the narrator’s backyard smoking cigarettes, talking about another boy, Simpson, who has claimed to have had sex with a girl under the house of the narrator. This leads to the decision of punishing him for lying:
(Page 39, line 20-25)
Though they are no more than eleven to twelve years of age, they do not behave as children like we know them. They do not play hide and seek or run about laughing or play video games. They swear, smoke and act like the grownups they see in video games.
The protagonist does not mention his name neither do any of his friends. He is eleven and the leader of the pack. He is the one to set the agenda. He tells the other two what to do and they act upon request: (Page 41, line 26-32)
On one hand he does not care about the consequences, which is described on page 43, last paragraph, to page 45, but on the other hand he is showing emotions and worries about what might happen. He does not really care about what will happen to Simpson, he only thinks about himself and his punishments. This is depicted with the hanging of Simpson:
(Page 40, line 32)

I didn't want to go on with it any longer. I figured Simpson had suffered enough but I was the leader and I was going to have to fight Hass afterwards and I couldn't show any weakness. (Page 42, line 25)

In both cases he does not want to harm Simpson, but he feels pressured to do so, since he is the leader, and he is afraid of what the other boys might think of him if he did not do it. Then he would be just like Simpson - a sissy.
Though he shows empathy for Simpson, he does not really care about that. He does not care if anything happens to Simpson; he only cares about what his consequences will be if something were to happen to Simpson:

(Page 43, line 13-15)
Hass and Morgan are not described very briefly. We know that they are both twelve, they smoke, they are members of the protagonist’s pack and they are loyal to him even though things get too serious: (Page 42, line 29-31)
Though they try to act older and tougher than they are, it is still very evident that they are kids, still. They determine whether Simpson is guilty or not by holding a kangaroo court:

(Page 41, line 3-4)
Here it is obvious that this is just child’s play to them. This is perfectly normal to them. They know what they are doing is wrong, but at the same time they experience a certain excitement from breaking social acceptable rules. They get a rush from inflicting pain and angst on others.

The relationship between the boys and their families are relatively unknown. In the end we are introduced to the father of the protagonist, whom does not seem totally surprised with the actions of his son. He has not been home all day, probably like most days, and the mother has not returned from work yet. From this it is clear that the protagonist is bored. He does what he does to have something that will fill in the holes of loneliness and neglect. The other boys are probably in the same situation. We also hear about Simpson’s dad not being home: (Page 40, line 4)
The father of the protagonist seems unmoved by the events that have taken place in his own backyard. All he focuses on is telling his son how it will kill his mother to know of what he has done. This does not affect the protagonist so the father goes to other methods than verbal punishment. He gets physical and beats the main character, and when this does not affect the protagonist either, the father calls him “Son of Satan”; hence the title:

(Page 45, line 7-8)
Son of Satan is from the viewpoint of the protagonist; it is hereby an omniscient first person narrator. He takes us through the events by describing the things he sees, hears and feels. This gives us access to thoughts and feelings. The story gets a subjective viewpoint through dialogues and personal thoughts expressed through the text by the protagonist.
The overall themes of this short story are definitely neglect, loneliness and boredom. The boys have busy parents who would rather pay themselves out of trouble than to take care of the problem. They would rather work late than to be with their children. Hereby follows the loneliness and boredom. Another theme is evil and malice. What the boys do is pure evil. They do it for own pleasure and entertainment. They make up a reason to act upon, and even though they get what they really wanted (the truth), it is just not good enough. Another theme could be insecurity. The protagonist expresses insecurity multiple times, but the pressure he feels takes over, and he is led to do stuff that he would not normally do.