When civilization slips away and man reverts to his more primitive nature, his identity disintegrates. The boys use masks to cover their identity, and this allows them to kill and later to murder. This loss of a personal name personifies the loss of selfhood and identity. Power Different types of power, with their uses and abuses, are central to the story. Each kind of power is used by one of the characters.
Democratic power is shown when choices and decisions are shared among many.
Authoritarian power allows one person to rule by threatening and terrifying others. Spiritual power recognizes internal and external realities and attempts to integrate them. Brute force, the most primitive use of power, is indiscriminate. Fear of the Unknown Fear of the unknown on the island revolves around the boys terror of the beast. Fear is allowed to grow because they play with the idea of it.