In chapter eight, Gift for the Darkness has many conflicts in it. The main conflict is when Jack and Ralph fights. Jack wants to be chief but no one wants Ralph to resign as chief. Jack separates from the group and runs into the forest. Before he went into the forest, he said anyone who wished to join him may. Maurice, Bill and Roger had joined Jack leaving Ralph with the remainder of the few big uns. Jack and his group had hunted down a pig, brutally killed it and had offered its head as a sacrifice to the “beast.” Ralph on the other hand is upset that Jack had left and is frustrated over the fact that he only had a few big uns left to help keep the fire going. Simon had crept off on his own to his thinking spot. He talks to the beast as if the beast is actually responding to him. In his head, the beast was really talking back to him. Things start to fall apart in this chapter and you see the boys become more savage and uncivilized.
The lesson in this chapter is that teamwork is the key to success. If Ralph and Jack had come to an agreement of some sort to co-operate together then the boys would still be in one group and it would be easier to keep the fire going. When Simon talked to the beast as if the beast was actually answering him, it shows that Simon is kind of losing his sanity. This symbolizes that everything is starting to fall apart and the boys are losing their sanity, and becoming less civilized. The fire represents the hope in each of the boys’ heart that they may still be rescued. It also symbolizes that even though it can be put out at times, it will always be there. That there will always be a mark of hope,