Jack feels he should be chief but when a democratic vote is held, Ralph wins comfortably. The boys felt that the election of the chief was a good decision as Ralph had shown his leadership skills. However, Jack takes the news badly as he “snatched from behind him a sizeable sheath-knife and clouted it into the trunk". Jack shows jealousy and throughout the novel, the spite overpowers him and he tries to get the group to side with him and challenges Ralph. Using Piggy’s glasses, the boys light a fire on the top of the mountain.
The boys are made unsettled at the beginning of Chapter 2 as the boy with the birthmark on his face mentions he saw a “beastie” in “the woods”. Ralph attempts to reassure them that it does not exist and that “He must have had a nightmare” yet the ominous mood creates insecurity for not only the “littluns” but the “biguns” too. Jack has no regard and taunts the “littluns” making the image of a beast in the woods, realistic. He’s excited about hunting for the mysterious creature and at first, Jack’s hunting fits in with civilised behaviour – he provides meat for all of the boys. But the “fierce exhilaration” of hunting soon takes over from sensible behaviour. As Jack feels there is a possibility of the beast existing and Ralph is ensuring it is all in their imagination, it shows the contrast of a rational argument and their irrational fear.
Ralph proceeds with his programme of improvements, helped by Piggy’s intelligent suggestions. He decides they should light a signal fire to rescue ships as it may be their only hope. The fire rages out of control and the boy with the birthmark vanishes, presumably dead. This is a big indication of the order deteriorating and despite their good intentions, they are still lacking maturity, awareness and how much of a danger they are to themselves. Conflict blossoms between Ralph and Jack as they both have different priorities. Jack states that he wants to hunt for meat, yet Ralph feels that building shelters is the most important. This conveys the contrast between primitive nature and civilisation practicality as Jack becomes obsessed with hunting and declines into savagery whereas Ralph clings to the hope of rescue and returning to civilisation.
The boys’ school uniforms represent discipline and they get dirty and torn as the boys lose their old values. Painting his face frees Jack from civilised rules – it provides “liberation into savagery”. The painted faces of the “savages” are like a new uniform – it makes them “anonymous” and makes them “look like something else” so no one has to take individual responsibility for the violence. Golding uses the change in the boys’ appearances to represent the change in the group from civilisation to savagery.
Jack and the hunters let the fire go out and so miss the chance of rescue – Golding shows that they’ve forgotten the possibility of returning to civilisation in the savage excitement of hunting. They let the fire go out as Jack had devised a new strategy which involved having his hunters form a circle into which a pig could be driven and beaten to death. In order to put his plan into action Jack decided that he also needed the two hunters who were on fire duty. As a result of this the fire went out, as there was nobody on duty to feed it with fuel. The real issue was not that Jack was thoughtless or negligent but that Jack thought only in terms of himself. Jack and the hunters get overwhelmed about their first kill and start to chant which shows their primitive rituals are beginning to replace useful rules. Ralph’s rage boils up and “His voice was loud and savage, and struck them into silence” as he informed them all that “There was a ship”. Piggy then speaks with assertiveness when he confronts Jack. In response, as Jack cannot challenge Ralph, he lashes out at Piggy – Ralph’s brains – instead, breaking his glasses. The “unease of wrong-doing” that stops them hurting each other gradually wears off and the boys become more violent. As we know, the first violent act is when Jack hits Piggy. Piggy’s glasses are a symbol of order and represent reason and logic. Breaking them undermines order on the island and symbolises the break-down of rational thinking.
Ralph attempts to reassert his authority at a meeting.
“And first of all, I’m speaking.”
He says that the fire is of paramount importance and covers all of the issues in which he feels the boys are suffering from such as:
“Now there’s no water. The shells are dry. People drink from the river.”
And,
“I said if you’re taken short you keep away from the fruit. That’s dirty.”
As the “littluns” start going to the toilet everywhere, even near their shelters, it indicates that they are quickly forgetting civilised values that they were taught at home.
Throughout these chapters, the fear of the “beast” persists and so a hunt – Jack’s area of expertise – is organised to kill it. However, due to the war proceeding in the real world, the boys discovered a dead airman moving in the wind and are convinced that it is the beast and so avoid it, and assume the “beast” is real. Simon, the spiritual-like figure, climbs to the top of the mountain to search for what they are terrified of, as he believes that evil is within all man and that the “beast” doesn’t exist.
“He crawled forward and soon he understood”
This enables the reader to understand that Simon has discovered the parachutist and realised that it is simply a dead man, and not the “beast”.
“The beast was harmless and horrible.”
Simon shows compassion and dignity when discovering the dead airman as “he examined the white nasal bones, the teeth, the colours of corruption” and “knelt on all fours and was sick till his stomach was empty.” This shows that the airman had been severely injured physically and had blood smothered over his face. Simon instantly knew that he needed to tell the others that it’s “harmless” as then this would calm the boys and reassure them that as far as they are aware, the “beast” does still not exist. As we know, Ralph represents civilisation and Jack represents savagery but Simon appears separate – he doesn’t seem to be affected by the pull of barbarity.
Jack challenges Ralph once more and questions his authority by asking the boys,
“Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief?”
Much to Jack’s humiliation “the silence continues, breathless and heavy and full of shame” and “Under the palms there was deadly silence”. To Jack’s surprise, all of the boys wanted Ralph to remain “chief”. “Slowly the red drained from Jack’s cheeks” and “his gaze avoided the embarrassment of linking with another’s eye. Jack uses the conch to try to get power from Ralph. When he can’t take over as chief, he abandons democracy and sets himself up as a dictator and so he formed his own “tribe”. Tempted by hunting and feasting and not having to work, many boys joined Jack’s savages. All of the boys go to Jack’s feast – even Ralph and Piggy. They’re attracted by the promise of meat, and the “partly secure society” of the larger group. Jack wears garlands “like an idol” and is ordering the boys around – he’s abusing his power. He promises “food”, “fun” and protection “from the beast” to get the boys to join his tribe – he uses their fear to control them.
The conch group continue to stand for order and fairness; the savages become a dark, erratic force. Ralph points out that there is a storm coming and that Jack has no shelters – they boys react “uneasily”, showing that they’re still drawn to civilisation. Jack distracts them by ordering them to “Dance!” Simon then runs to the boys from the top of the mountain bearing the truth about the “beast”. He’s described as “a thing” – the tribe is confused and scared by the darkness, the storm and the savage dance. He’s also described as “Simon” – deep down the boys recognise him, but they’re too scared and frenzied to stop. The boys act as a “single organism” when they murder Simon – they’ve lost their individual identities. They kill him without “words”, only “the tearing of teeth and claws” – they’ve become inhuman and their savage instincts have taken over.
Piggy’s glasses are stolen. When the conch group attempt to retrieve them, Piggy is killed and Sam and Eric are forced to join the savages. Piggy tries to maintain rules and to impose the civilised society he craves on the other boys. Piggy and the conch are both destroyed together, symbolising the end of civilisation on the island.
Ralph, now alone, is hunted like a pig. He is no longer treated as a human. Only the naval officer prevents Ralph’s death and the complete collapse of order. Ralph, the most civilised character, destroys the Lord of the Flies – the symbol of evil and barbarity. In Chapter Eleven Roger, the least civilised character destroyed the conch – the symbol of civilisation and order. The tribe lights a fire to smoke Ralph out. It sounds like a “drum-roll” – the same sound as the fire that killed the littluns. It hints that someone might die in this fire, too. The officer who rescues them wears a clean white uniform, but the world he represents is at war, just like the boys. Like Ralph, the reader realises that civilised appearances hide the “darkness of man’s heart”. The officer’s gun and the warship are reminders that there’s a savage war going on in the grown-up world.
At first, the boys try to replicate the orderly environment they have come from. Due to their inexperience and their malevolent spirit of Jack, their efforts are disjointed and unproductive. The group divides into the civilised boys and the savage boys, who subvert order wherever they find it. In the end, they are prepared to kill Ralph – a figurehead of order – and only the intervention of the naval officer averts a complete collapse of order. Neither civilisation nor barbarity wins at the end of the novel. The savages don’t kill Ralph, but the boys go back to a world of war understanding the nature of man’s innocence. Ralph bursts into tears – he’s been rescued, but he’s lost his innocence. He realises that there is evil in everyone and it’s only held back by the rules of society.