One of the major themes in the novel, Lord of the Flies is the idea that man is a fallen creature. William Golding insists that evil is inherent in man; it is a terrifying force which mankind must recognize and control. So called "Civilized British" boys land on a deserted island but soon transform into nothing less than savages. The children enjoy the freedom away from the restrictions of adults, but the freedom soon turns into a nightmare and results in the killing of several boys. The community of boys on the island also represents and reflects the disorder and terror of the larger world. Golding emphasizes that nature wins in the battle of nature vs. nurture. He implies that civilization is not so distant from savagery and everyone has some capacity of evil within themselves. Even little, innocent kids have a capacity of evil within themselves.
At the beginning of the novel, the boys act very civilized. They all have the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of others. They form something similar to a democracy by voting on who the leader should be and using the conch to speak. Even Jack seems to agree, "I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we"re not savages. We"re English, and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do the right things"(42). They decide to create a fire on the top of a mountain to make smoke so that they can get rescued. However when they get to the top they realize that they have no source to start the fire. The fire on the top of the mountain is a symbol of their civilized society because it represents their hopes for rescue and a return to their ordinary lives. .
The first sign of the loss of innocence takes place in chapter four. Time passes by, the children soon grow tired of their civilized lifestyle. They quickly lose interest on their jobs to get rescued and turn to just having fun instead.
