At the opening of the novel, Ralph and Jack first meet and they appear to get on extremely well. However Ralph's neoursies tell us that he is thinking otherwise and that there is a tension between the pair. We are informed that Jack "shared his burden," and there was an, "invisible light of friendship," between the two boys. Ralph is seen as trying to represent all that is good through out the novel and is the typical hero who is : tall fair haired and very athletic in contrast with his only alliance, Piggy. Jack and Ralph both try to become leader and this is when tension first comes apparent between them, they both think that they should be leader of the people. Jack thinks he should be leader because of the fact that he is the head choir boy and older, demonstrating he had more experience and Ralph because he first summoned the boys to him by blowing the all important conch. However they both end up agreeing to disagree and choose democracy and Ralph turns out to be the new leader of the boys. It is put across that he is a natural leader although he may not be a good leader as many of his decisions through out the book are questionable. Jack changes considerably throughout this novel. At first he tells us, "I agree with Ralph we've got to have rules and obey them," This is showing us that at the beginning of the novel, just like Ralph, he wants to uphold a civilised society. We are also notified, "Most powerfully there was the conch." As the conch represents democracy and is the almighty power, we can see that at the beginning of the novel the boys successfully keep up a democratic society by passing the conch around.

When Ralph and piggy first come together he is the one that advises Ralph to blow the conch to summon all the survivors, even though he would have rathered that he hadn't blown it. Since the survivors end up teasing "Piggy" about his appearance. They see that he is over wieght, " a fatty" asthmatic and is one of the lower class boys, recognised by his accent. As Ralph and Piggy come to grow together you get to know that He can't see without his glasses which is significant later on in the book because they are smashed and because he represents the intelligencer among the group it manifests that all logic has been thrown away. Piggy is also killed symbolically with the conch as the story progresses which really does mean that any civilized conversation and thought has been cast away.

It is around this time when Ralph decided that he would initiate people jobs such as "Sam 'n' Eric" for sustaining the fire which must never under any circumstances go out because it is the provider of life. Such as it cooks food, sends out a smoke signal and provides light over the whole island. Ralph also assigned jobs for building shelter. However not everyone was assigned some people chose their own job such as jack and his choir they chose to be the hunters which caused an upset. This is the first time Jack directly leads an assault on Ralph's power which symbolises a turning pointing the novel showing that Jack is a tearaway. Golding shows a two-sided struggle between good and evil with the fire. On one hand the fire is the only source of warmth, light and hope of rescue. While on the other hand it brings death and destruction to the island burning all their resources and would have eventually driven them off the island if it weren't for the smoke coming off the fire that saved them.

The conch is the first allegory mentioned in the novel. It is representing mans respect for one another and how we should hold back and listen, this is what democracy, civilization stand for respect. This democratic society does not last very long as the children, more so Jack, have a lack of respect for the conch and the rules. We can see this when Jack decides, "We don't need the conch anymore, we know who should say things." As the conch represents democracy we can see that civilisation on the island is breaking up and savagery is starting to descend upon them like a thick blanket. We can also see a massive demise in the boys morals when Jack shouts, "Bollocks to the rules!" Here we can see that Jack contradicts himself while managing to diminish the assembly and the power of the conch by using one word and breaking their taboo. Golding has made the two boys' act similar at the beginning of the novel to show us how 'normal' they can choose to be. This demonstrates Golding's view that absolutely anyone can be over and ruled become hungry for more power, even the most noble and civilized of people such as Jack.

After this turning point in the novel we see continuing conflict between Ralph and Jack. This becomes ever more apparent to Ralph and Jacks minions' after Jack attempts to break away from the assembly and says Ralph, "Isn't a proper chief." Golding is trying to show us that this conflict is very similar to real life situations and the living influence it has on other people. We can see other evidence of this conflict within ourselves, with the masks that Jack and his hunters put on. We are informed that Jack, " rubbed the charcoal stick between the patches of red and white on his face" The masks the hunters wear represents how we cover our morals within ourselves. These masks also let the boys hide from their conscience and their real personalities this reinforces the readers opinion when we are informed, "The mask was a thing on it's own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness." We can see that the mask releases Jack from rational behaviour, which helps him, assert power. These camouflage masks are used in warfare, which clearly links his new identity as a shameless killer to warriors or soldiers fighting at war.

It is not only Jack that was a power crazed killer. We are told that the "little'uns" also took satisfaction from the, "knowledge that they had out witted a living thing, imposed their will upon it and taken away it's life like a long satisfying drink." Golding has put this into the storyline to show us that even 'innocent' children have a savage side to them that is hidden by society. However it is not just hidden by society it is also imposed on them by other and older people. As the big'uns, Roger and Maurice tormented the little'uns by destroying their sandcastles as you can see they seem to get a rush from it because they feel almost god like, controlling peoples feelings. However they still hear in their heads the "reprimanding adult voices" of civilisation they thought they left behind, this again shows that some of the inhabitants of this island still appear to have morals but have thrown them to the wind. Another example of this moral is during the storyline when Roger was throwing rocks at Henry, but he throws them so they miss because Henry is surrounded by; "the protection of parents, school, policemen and the law. Rogers arm was conditioned by a civilisation that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."

Golding uses a lot of symbolism in his novel. Even the boy's names represent their hidden desires. The origin of Jack's name is Hebrew and means "One who supplants," which reflects his use of force, while Roger's name is German and biblical and in origin means "spear" which reflects his desire to kill and protect Jack. He is also a weapon of Jack in that he does all of his bidding and his work. Roger is Jacks torturer and he is going to put Ralph's head on a stick once he is hunted down, he could be described as a sadist since he enjoys giving pain to other people. This Hebrew and biblical stance links back to the pig he failed to kill, A pigs head in Hebrew represents Judas and Beelzebub and is also known as the "Lord Of The Flies." Which is where this novel takes it's name from. We are told that it was, "because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh because of the unbearable blood." That Jack could not kill the pig, this is one of the only weaknesses that Jack shows throughout the book. He says to the boys, "Next time." Which shows us that he can not tolerate weakness in himself and that he is in denial. Later on in the novel when the boys kill a defenceless sow we are shown that the boys or the hunters were, "wedded to her in lust" This shows us that the boys have developed a passion for hunting and that they are now officially savage and have gone back to their ancestral roots in the stone age. The sows death and disfigurement marks the triumph of evil. As they chant "Kill the beast, cut her throat, bash her in," We can see how this hunting is like a game to the boys. This again shows the primeval roots and with the descent into savagery has come their decent into an instinctive Neanderthal way of thinking. As the novel progresses we are told that the game they have been playing turns into a, "desire to hunt and kill," and becomes much more serious making it, "over mastering." This shows us that now all the boys are savage and becoming unable to control themselves. Even the victims of this are becoming part of it as they are now the prey.

When the two groups of boys separate they come across the beast which I believe is stemmed from fear and is actually is a state of mind much like paranoia and is a religious figure as well as an all powerful leader they must sacrifice their riches to such as an offering of meat which incidentally was never taken. We are shown in the novel that Simon is the only one of the boys that chooses not to believe in the beast, he is the only one of two people to see the beast for himself and for everyone else. His idea is confirmed to us when the 'Lord of the Flies' tells us that, "I'm part of you... I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what there?" Simon is a dark, mystical boy who the other boys see as "Odd". He sees the world as a scientific place. In my eyes he represents the soul of people, humanity, or a christ like figure such as when he is killed it is done symbolically for the fear of the children and he is the complete oposite of Piggy since he had the courage to go up the mountain to "bow against the fear of the beast," although he is petrified.

Throughout the novel Golding uses weather to symbolise the mood, a kind of universal assessment of the actions that have taken place. We are shown this when Ralph points out, "There's going to be a storm." This slowly builds us up to Simon's death. It is also used as a way to emphasize the tension between the boys and their reactions.

We Can see that even Ralph and Piggy, really the last hope for democracy, have a savage side as they, "found themselves eager to take place in this demented but partly safe society." At Simon's murder the boys, "Leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit and tore." This clearly shows us that the boys are completely barbaric and have no control. The reason why Golding did not inform us straight away that Simon was the beast was because he wanted us to try and see things from the boys' perspective which I believe was a good way of making us express our barbaric thoughts before trampling them back down by saying the beast was no more than a defenceless boy. . .  

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