Ralph states the problem when he says to the group of children:.
"We decide things. But they don't get done. We were going to have water brought from the stream and left in those coconut shells under fresh leaves. So it was for a few days. Now there's no water. The shells are dry. People drink from the river(79)." .
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The first signs of the change of their behavior seem to be harmless. The boys do not follow the rules of building huts or collecting water in special places, and sleeping on the ground and drinking water directly from the river becomes the outcome. These consequences are not disadvantages; they are just uncivilized. What the boys unfortunately do not see is that these small steps away from civilized lives would eventually add up to a big change from civilization.
The contents of chapter four is how life on the island has developed. The boys have got used to a regular routine during the day with spending their time swimming, playing, eating and sleeping. A description of a big change of the atmosphere among the group seems to take place in this chapter also. The physical appearance of the children indicates the change. The children are sun burnt and their hair has grown too long. Jack and the hunters wear masks and war paint, which is a symbol for savagery. "The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness(64)." Jack and the hunter's hid themselves behind the dark masks. As Jack finally kills a pig it sparks the start of his change to savagery, "His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink"(70). .
All of their resolutions soon degrade and fall apart. The society gives into its more primitive side and now only concerns itself with having fun and just playing. Hunting, which originally was only a way of getting food so that they could survive until they were rescued becomes all important.
