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immediate reinstatement of familiar social conventions, dispelling the savagery and
starkly contrasting with the primeval depravity and evil which emerged in its absence.
With it comes an overwhelming sense of relief, not only for Ralph, but also for the
reader, at the instant restoration of the old social order.
The novel demonstrates that when the normal rules and social conventions are stripped
away, what remains are individual values. These stem from the boys’ upbringing, life
experience, their passions, emotions, and the societies they have left behind.
Ralph’s consistent insistence on the maintenance of fire stems from his unwavering
desire to be rescued and longing to return to his previous life. (Ralph is the only
character for whom the reader is given a portrayal of a yearning for an idyllic former
life in rural south west England. He wears his grey school shirt until the end of the
story). Ralph’s fear of dying on the island without rescue guides all rules, expected
behaviours and actions he initiates as chief. The reader shares in Ralph’s incredulity
and frustration as the other boys value the hunt over fire and rescue and the growing
realisation “that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away” (p. 92).
For Jack the pride and humiliation at not being voted chief (along with his failure to kill
a pig when first presented with the opportunity) seem intolerable in contrast to his place
as prefect and head chorister in the previous social order. These passions drive Jack’s
desire to claim his rightful position as chief which he achieves by exploiting the fear of
the other boys, luring them with the thrill of the hunt and gaining their respect by
killing the pigs to provide meat for them to eat.
In the other boys we are given glimpses of perceptions of right and wrong.
Significantly, each occurrence is linked to the conventions of home. But as the boys
become further separated from the old order, so these instances disappear. As time
distances them further and further from their familiar home environments, so emotions,
passions and instincts emerge and increasingly dominate the boys’ decisions and
actions. The values from their upbringing and social environments recede along with
the remnants reminding them of civilised society. This shift in values influences how
they portray themselves, what they do with their time, and how they behave towards
each other. For example, as the hunt becomes increasingly valued by more and more of
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