After the three boys--Ralph, Jack, and return from their exploration, Ralph explains to the rest of the boys that they are indeed on an uninhabited . Jack tells the boys about the need for and the story of the that they encountered.
Realizing that there needs to be order, Ralph tells the boys that there needs to be when speaking. The boy who holds the is the only one allowed to talk. And the only one who is allowed to interrupt is .
Piggy takes the conch and is upset because nobody is allowing Ralph to say what is most important. tells the boys that nobody knows they are there. Ralph tells the boys that that is , but the island is terrific and they will have a good time while they wait to be .
Jack asks if anyone else has found anything. No one speaks, but a little boy of about years of age comes up. He timidly takes the conch and speaks. He asks what is going to be done about the snake-thing; he later calls it a . The boys laughed at first, but later they sense some . Ralph tries to make everyone comfortable by telling them that an island couldn’t have a beastie.
Ralph suggests that making a will help get the boys rescued. Jack yells, “Follow me,” and the boys rashly run up to the top of the and gather dried to start a fire. Piggy is the to make it up the mountain. When he arrives, the boys are trying to figure out how to make fire Ralph doesn’t know how, and he stupidly asks if anyone has a . Jack, on the other, figures out he can use Piggy’s .
The boys discover that the fire was no good because there was only flame, no . A boy suggests putting a green on the fire next time. Piggy is outraged and grabs the conch and tries to speak. He thinks it was stupid to build a fire haphazardly and not to think about building for the evening. He says that it gets at night on the . While Piggy is talking, the boys realize that they have accidentally set the island on fire. Piggy makes Ralph realize that some of the boys probably are scared because of the fire.