Most people's idea of the savage is one of an especially uncivilized, barbaric, or primitive creature. In Lord of the Flies, the transformation of a group of English schoolboys from civilized beings to savages is described. In the novel, William Golding uses the ever-increasing brutality of the hunts to illustrate the escalating savagery on the island.

The first hunt depicts the innocence of the boys and can be contrasted with subsequent hunts. When Jack is incapable of killing a pig tangled in the creepers Golding writes, "They knew very well why he hadn't (killed the pig): because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood." This quote shows that the boys feel uncomfortable with the thought of killing the pig, illustrating society's enduring hold on each of them. Jack already begins to tear out of society's grasp when he...