The boar hunt and the game the boys play later provide blunt reminders of the influence of the human instinct to barbarity. Before this point in the novel, Ralph has been perplexed about why the boys were more worried with hunting and feasting than with building huts, maintaining the signal fire, and trying to be rescued. But when he joins the boar hunt in this chapter, Ralph is unable to avoid the instinctive excitement of the hunt and gets caught up in the other boys’ bloodlust. In this scene, Golding implies that every individual, however strong his or her instinct toward civilization and order, has an undeniable, innate drive toward savagery as well. After the hunt, the boys’ reenactment of the chase provides a further reminder of the inextricable
