Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding, and the topic of this essay is to show how Golding suggests that the boys on the island gradually go from their civilized behavior to anarchy total. In the book Lord of the Flies, an unknown number of kids get stranded on a desert island and a leader is chosen. From the beginning there is a power struggle between the chosen leader, Ralph, and the leader of a boys' choir, Jack. There is also a gradual descent into anarchy as the boys spend more time alone on the island. Eventually, they are rescued by a navy ship, but not before at least two children are dead, namely Piggy and Simon, both murdered. In this essay it will be shown how the boys on the island go from civilization to total anarchy, through the examples of their use of face paint, Simon's death, and the destruction of the conch. In Lord of the Flies, an example of their transition from civilization to anarchy lies in the use of face paint among the boys on the island. Some boys, like Ralph and Piggy, never wear face paint. This shows that they remain civilized throughout the story, while the other children do not. At the beginning of the story, when the hunters chase a pig, they all used mud, clay, and charcoal as face paint to be "like things trying to look like something else"; (Lord of the Flies, William Golding, p. 66). Later, when Jack forms his tribe, they go hunting with masks of pig's blood on their faces, as masks. Golding suggests that children are able to disguise themselves behind these masks and escape any punishment, thus freeing them to do as they please. This shows that Golding wanted the reader to think that while the children are afraid of punishment (just arriving on the island), they are civilized in their behavior, but when they put on their masks, and manage to free themselves of responsibility for their actions they begin to act more savagely. Another example of how the children of the island went from civilization to anarchy is the progression of the dance they perform. At the beginning, when they dance, they all gather in a circle and a child is in the center and acts as the beast. The children then pretended to beat him, but instead left him unharmed.