According to William Golding the theme of Lord of the Flies is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. Golding uses "Good and Evil" in the characters to portray the defects of society and human nature and trace the defects back to each other. .
In the novel the defects of society are that the boys have no form of structure. The boys try to have meetings and appoint a leader but they never actually go by the rules they set down for themselves. The defects of human nature become apparent when the boys turn on each other.
In the novel Ralph is the representative of civilization. Ralph is appointed leader in the beggining of the novel and is the actual authority figure. Ralph is a fairly good guy but the still has that certain darkness within himself. Jack is the leader of the boys who turn against Ralph. Jack is truly evil ans savage and has a spark of wildness that burns deeper than that of Ralphs. The struggle between Ralph and Jack and the rest of the boys represents the struggle in modern society between those same forces translated into a worldwide scale.
In the novel Simon is the only truly "good" guy. Simon realizes that savagry is not some physical beast, but rather a savagery that lurks within each human being.
In the novel the boys become savage and turn on each other. This represents the defects of society which is having no structure. This is the theme of the novel according to Golding and is tied together by the usage of "Good and Evil.".
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