With Piggy’s death, the rational thinking among the children comes to an end. Eventually, Jack succeeds in killing Piggy as soon as he finds an opportunity. Jack’s irrational reasoning becomes Piggy’s foe. He fears that absurdity is dominating, and it will swallow him. Piggy, the representative of rationalism and rational thinking, is timid when it comes to asserting his rationality. Lord of the Flies shows how rationalism is a good virtue but also very difficult to practice. It gradually dominates others, and by the end of the novel, Ralph is left alone to represent virtue on that island. Although simple at first, a devious immoral action of Jack to dominate the children by taking leadership from Ralph turns into a vice. William Golding has deliberately put children in the wilderness to evaluate how virtue is an innate feature of human nature, and how it loses against the vice. Vice against virtue is another major theme of the novel. This shows how savageness or savagery spread in a society when there are no restrictions. With the passage of time, they become savages and start hunting human beings.

The ways of Jack tempt them toward hunting which is savagery in nature. Except for Jack, all others are just followers. Through the character of Jack and his hunters, William Golding has wonderfully displayed that human nature can quickly turn from prey to savagery. ‘Savageness’ in the society is another overarching theme of Lord of the Flies. This is where their innocence is lost in the maze of confusion. Hence, they become hunters of human life. However, later in the novel, they turn upon Ralph after killing Piggy. At first, the innocent boys have become hunters symbolically. The death of Piggy and flight of Ralph from fear of death at the hands of Jack and his hunters is the loss of innocence. Piggy, Ralph and “littluns” represent innocence. Loss of innocence is one of the major themes of Lord of the Flies.

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