A group of boys were in a plane escaping Great Britain during wartime and their plane was shot down over a deserted island. Ralph and Piggy (two of the main characters) for a conch shell on the beach, which they would use to call meetings and get the attention of the other boys. The boys decided they needed a leader, so they chose Ralph. They also chose Jack at the lead hunter. (This foreshadows what would happen to each of these boys during their time on the island.) When Ralph, Jack, and Simon explore the island, they decide to set a signal fire on the top of a mountain in order to attract passing ships. This fire is neglected and ends up setting the forest on fire. Ralph takes his leadership role very seriously and seems to be the only boy who understands what needs to be done in order to keep some form of civility on the island. While he is trying to organize the building of huts and the maintenance of a signal fire, all of the other boys blow him off and are playing. When Jack fails to catch a wild pig, he becomes completely fixated on hunting. (This shows the beginning of his de-humanization.) Soon, a ship passes by the island but doesn’t see the boys because their signal fire is out. After the first successful hunt, the boys do a wild, animal-like, celebratory dance. (Yet another sign of the fading civility of the boys.) Ralph tries to restore order with the conch shell and finds that the boys are actually becoming scared of the situation. The “littluns” believe there is a beast or a monster in the forest on the island that comes out at night but hides during the day. The possibility of it hiding in the ocean completely terrifies the boys. An air battle occurs over the island and a dead parachutist falls onto the mountain where the signal fire is. The twins think it is the beast and run back to camp to tell the others that the beast has attacked them. Jack and Ralph see the silhouette of the parachutist and think it’s a large ape. Jack decides that Ralph should no longer be the leader. Him and the rest of the hunters take off away from the beach. Ralph tries to rally the other boys together to build a new signal fire on the beach but most of them leave quietly during the work. Jack’s new tribe organizes a violent slaughter of a wild sow. They put her head on a stick that becomes covered in flies. (This represents the Lord of the Flies and the side of humans that really isn’t human at all.) Simon has a vision in which the pig head speaks to him, telling him that no one can ever escape the “Lord of the Flies” for it exists within every man. When Simon goes back to the beach to tell the others that he has seen a dead man, they attack and kill him with their bare hands and teeth. (An extremely animalistic act.) Jack’s hunters attack Ralph and Piggy when they try to reason with Jack. They kill Piggy and Ralph narrowly escapes. They shatter the conch. (This is a symbol of the complete shut down of all humanity.) Jack and his hunters set the forest of fire, trying to smoke Ralph out onto the beach. When he finally has to go to the beach, Ralph is met by a British naval officer who had seen the island on fire. The sight of the animalistic boys amazes the officer. When the officer asks the boys what happened, they all broke down crying. (This is the return of their humanity.)
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