1. The island boys are categorized into two groups, the "biguns and the littleuns". The "biguns" are the larger boys who keep the island running while the "littleuns" do just enough to keep themselves alive
1.1. One thing that is attached to the "littleuns is the legend of the "beastie". One of the small boys tells the rest of the group that he saw a 'snake-like beastie' coming to eat him in the middle of the night and then it went back into the woods but it would return for him. - this kid is never seen again.
1.1.1. Another important theme from the book is human will and the things that humans do and the things we are willing to do. This is attached to the beast because in the book Simon says ¨Maybe there is a beast, maybe it is only us.¨ This points to human nature and shows its wicked nature and how willing we are to turn on other humans to get the things we desire.
2. The conch is the shell that was blown to call all of the boys to the beach. It was ones described as the ¨ magic shell" in the book. It is used as a symbol of power, when it is handed to someone they have the right to speak and no one else should speak when someone has possession of the shell.
2.1. When the boys land on the beach and the conch has been blown, all of the boys gather on the beach. The boys vote for a chief and they chose Ralph, who blew the conch and called them all there.
2.1.1. Jack and Ralph are the two main boys on the island who want power, Jack wanted power from the beginning where as Ralph was given power because of the conch and he resolved to keep it.
3. Hunting becomes a big priority to some of the boys on the island, these boys become known as "The hunters" they were formerly a boys choir and where supposed to be split into two groups, one to hunt and one to keep the fire burning.
4. Being rescued is the most important thing when the boys get there, but because they realize it could be a while they also resolve to have some fun while they wait.
4.1. Some of the boys forget about the rescue part and jump straight into the fun part and they completely abandon any time of work that needs to be done. Very few boys do pit in.
4.1.1. As a part of the rescue effort Ralph decides there should be a fire built on the top of the mountain so that if a ship passes them they will see them and they will be rescued. The fire becomes a large part of the plot. It causes several problems throughout the book and leads to some resentment among some of the boys.