"The island was scorched up like dead wood- Simon was dead- and Jack had... The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body... Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy." (p.202)
The reader is introduced at the beginning of the chapter to the fact that there is a hunting that is about to take place. Ralph has become an outcast and Jack's tribe intends to defeat him. Ralph hides himself in some ferns where he hopes the boys will not find him, but of course they do. First they throw boulders at him but ultimately resort to setting the island on fire, destroying their home. Ironically the fire does not lead to their demise but instead triumph.
Surprisingly this tragic story of how fast the sense of civilization can be lost has a positive outcome. In the midst of a full blown battle between Jack's tribe and Ralph, a naval officer arrives to rescue them. There had been a feeling of organization and rules at the beginning of the story as a result of the conch but overtime all order was lost as the boys began to give way to savage ideas. The boys had been very proper, but soon friends were lost and chaos pursued. Ralph is hinting at this towards the end of the story when he breaks down in sobs. When "civilization" arrives in the form of the boat there is a unanimous realization that things have clearly gotten out of hand and what the boys were "playing" was not a game but rather reality. Being put in a bad situation caused the evil to surface and and the boys to attack their friends without consequence. We realize that they are just kids and being put on this island is what caused them to act so horribly.
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