order versus chaos

Lord of the Flies highlights many different types of conflict such as man vs environment, man vs man, man vs self and man vs supernatural. The boys are stranded on a deserted island. The heat is staggering and food is limited. The boys must work to maintain their rescue fire, shelters and food supply.
Man vs self and man vs supernatural are connected in the novel. Throughout the story, the boys always suspect there is a beast somewhere on the island that will hunt them down and kill them. Twins Eric and Sam discover the body of a dead parachutist, hanging from a rock. Because it was dark when the twins found the body, they believed the swaying corpse was The Beast. This causes the boys to fearfully search a part of the island they had never gone to before. Later in the novel, Simon is left alone at the site with the dead parachutist. The teenaged boys killed a sow and skewered its head on a stick which was left as an offering to The Beast. Both man vs self and man vs supernatural when the sow's head speaks to him, covered in flies. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that no matter where he runs, he cannot escape the Lord of the Flies. The sow's head says his spirit lives in all the boys, who are around Simon all the time. This ominous event was a result of the supernatural as well as Simon's imagination.
Man vs man conflict plays a big role in Lord of the Flies. The beginning of the novel begins with Ralph and Jack both wanting to be chief, or the head of the stranded boys. Though Ralph is voted to be chief, Jack continually tries to gain more power and influence over the boys. Piggy, a chubby boy with glasses is constantly teased and picked on even though he has wise things to say. He is later brutally killed when Roger rolls a large boulder on to Piggy, who could not see because Jack had stolen and broken his glasses. Piggy falls on to a rock in water and his skull cracks open. He is washed out to sea.
Ralph supports order and civilization which is shown when he immediately sets up a system to build shelters, collect and hunt for food and keep a fire going as a signal to passing boats. Later in the novel the boys split up, some following Ralph, but most following Jack. This represents the fall of order. Jack and his hunters later chase and kill a large sow and eat the meat on the beach. Just as the hunters are finished eating, Jack leads them in a chant and a dance. They yell "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" The boys are fully engaged in this performance when Simon stumbles out of the forest just have encountering the words of the Lord of the Flies. Man vs man conflict is evident when the group of hunters kill Simon with their bare hands and teeth, all while yelling the chant. This also represents a complete loss of civilization. The boys killed Simon for no reason at all. Simon's body is also washed out to sea.
The conflict is resolved at the very end of the novel. All the boys become blood-thirsty after Piggy's death and wish to kill Ralph as well. The hunters light the forest on fire to smoke Ralph out from his hiding spot. Ralph is chased by all the boys with spears and weapons out to the beach. An officer who noticed the blazing fire stood on the beach. At the sight of the officer, all the boys stop immediately. The officer reminds them of civilization, their homes and sanity. They suddenly are overcome with realization and sadness and the book ends with all of the teenage boys crying.
This reminds me of a TV show series called Dexter. Dexter is a police agent who witnessed the murder of  his mother when he was three years old. This incident scarred him for life and now he must kill people. But his father, the only one who knew of this disorder, trained Dexter to kill people who were murderers themselves and not get caught. The story revolves around Dexter and how he traps and kills people, yet has a normal life with a child of his own, and an occupation as a police agent. This reminds me of the stranded boys in the beginning of the novel, versus at the end of the novel. The boys believe in civilization at first and believe that they will soon be rescued. As the days go by, the boys resort to their savage instincts and end up killing two schoolmates. The double life of Dexter is like the two sided personalities of the boys.