Feral Children

A feral child is one who has lived apart from human society from an early age, so they cannot display the normal signs of human activity; speech, showing emotion like smiling, or even walking. Some have been imprisoned by parents, whilst others appear to have been living wild in forest or jungle. The behaviour of the children seems to be dictated by the animals they survived, so a Russian boy found in 2008 behaved as though he was a bird (chirping and flapping his arms) and an Indian boy in 1867 who was found living in a cave with wolves and would eat raw meat. 'Real' cases of feral children have resulted in children who have appeared mentally or physically impaired and largely or completely lacking in social skills needed for human interaction.

However, when it comes to fictional cases or those from legends, a very different image is created. These children, like Mowgli from 'The Jungle Book' or Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology, actually have few animal characteristics. Instead, they share human morals and intelligence, and are often able to easily fit into human society. They also often have superior strength and survival instincts and even what appears to be an improved sense of morality. Therefore, such feral children can be shown to symbolise the 'noble savage', where  humanity is in its pure and least corrupted state.