The main idea in William Golding's "Lord of The Flies" is that savagery is the true nature of man, and without order, a person will degenerate into a savage, primal barbarian. There are a number of factors that contribute to the decent of the boys from humans, to something less; these include, the increasing disregard of the rules, the murders, their appearances and the conch.

As in society, the rules on the island are the most important things on the island and are some of the only things keeping the fragile balance between savagery and civilisation. The rules start being broken and bent as soon as they are made "and he won't be interrupted. Except by me." During the middle of the book, some of the rules are just forgotten, for instance, the boys started going to the toilet wherever they wanted, including in the food areas.

The...