Eventually, when Jack rejects Ralph's democratic order and creates an anarchy on another side of the island, the other boys decide that hunting and mean are more important than the minute chance of being rescued. ""I seen them stealing off when we was gathering wood. They went that way. The same way as [Jack] went himself."" (131) However, Ralph still sticks to his initial plan of rescue and never seriously considers joining Jack's tribe in order to save himself. .
During much of the novel, Ralph is unable to comprehend why the other boys would submit themselves to the basic instincts of barbarism and savagery. The hunters?chanting after the first pig kill annoys and baffles Ralph. But when Ralph first wounded a pig, he experiences an "adrenaline rush?and becomes excited. He exclaimed, ""I hit him all right. The spear stuck in. I wounded him!"" (113) Even when Ralph attends Jack's feast he joins in on the chanting and dancing of Jack's tribe and participates in the killing of Simon. This sudden eruption of savage instincts dismays Ralph as he realizes that he had assisted in a murder. He realizes the truth of the evil that exists within him and all human beings. When he is rescued by the naval officer, he weeps with the burden of knowledge about humanity.
Jack is the prime representation of savagery, violence, and power. From the beginning, Jack is the antithesis of Ralph. Jack's first disapproval of Ralph being a leader displays his instant animosity towards Ralph. When Ralph was declared the chief, "the freckles on Jack's face disappeared under a blush of mortification.?(23) This hostility continues up to the end of the novel. Jack's greatest desire is power which is also evident from the beginning as well. As soon as Ralph was elected leader, Jack continually pushes the boundaries of his secondary role as the main hunter until he finally achieves his goal as leader. Slowly, during the novel, the more savage Jack becomes, the more influence he has over the other boys.
