It is as though the idea that some sort of beast is on the island, has taken over control of the boy's minds. They become so overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty, that the older boys change their fears into hatred towards the other boys, especially the littluns. During the beginning of the story, two older boys named Roger and Maurice, "were relieved from duty at the signal fire and c[a]me down for a swim" (p 60). Roger led the way, kicking over the sandcastles that the littlun's had been building. This was the first taste of no authority on the island because Maurice kicks sand into one of the littlun's eyes, and "in his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand" (p 60). This act shows that the boys have discovered that there is no one to punish them for the things they do wrong and because of this, they feel the need for savagery. .
One night, an air battle is going on and a dead paratrooper falls from the sky and lands next to the signal fire where Sam and Eric have fallen asleep. When they wake up, they are terrified by the shadows and noises caused by the paratrooper. They then came running down to the beach claiming "we saw the beast" (p 99). A team of explorers are sent out the next day to search for the beast. The explorers, led by Ralph and Jack, set out to find the beast. While on their hunt, the boys come across pig droppings, and decide that it would be great to have meat. They track down the pig, and even Ralph is immense with excitement brought on by the hunt. He even throws his spear at the pig and hits it in the snout. The pig manages to run off, and the boys fail to kill it. Caught up in the excitement of the hunt, they decide to play a game where one of the boys in the group is the pig, and they will be trying to kill him. While on his hands and knees playing the role of the wild boar, Robert is nearly killed by the other boys, who have seem to have forgotten that it was only a game, not an actual hunt.