The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about several British schoolboys marooned on a deserted tropical island after their plane is shot down during an atomic war. The pilot of the plane is killed leaving the boys without adult supervision. A conflict develops between the novel's main characters, Ralph and Jack. Jack Merridew is "tall, thin, and bony; and his hair red beneath the black cap. His face is crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness." (20) Golding uses Jack's behavior to show the darkness that lives within human beings. The darkness within human beings can be described by the evil behaviors and acts that are allowed to occur when civilization slips away. Evil can be defined in terms of hurtful, careless, savage, and dangerous behaviors and acts that can lead to murdering. Civilization is the stronghold, the rules, and the identity of being good, which can protect all from revealing the negative of what is underneath. Civilized behavior is the instinct to live by rules in a peaceful manner, following moral commands, and valuing the good of the group. Uncivilized behavior is the instinct to gratify one's immediate desires in a violent manner to obtain supremacy over others, and enforcing one's will. It is ignoring the rules, morals and ethics and developing instead to a barbaric path of being hurtful, careless, savage, and dangerous and so on. Civilization can keep some from revealing themselves but at times it can slip away and those hiding beneath it are unmasked by their behaviors.
             In "The Sound of the Conch, Golding introduces Jack as a boy with certain qualities. He appears to be an ominous figure from the start. He has been choirmaster and immediately leads the black-cloaked boys in military style along the beach under the glaring hot sun. "I ought to be chief, " Jack says with simple arrogance. (22) Jack hungers for leadership positions and when the boys don&...