The inner nature of man is a corrupting force that is masked behind civilisation. The barrier that the inner nature of man hides behind is taken down on the island by the boys hunger for power, the freedom they are given and fear. When the inner nature of man is allowed to come through, it manifests itself in the form of savagery and the beast.
The first way we can see the boys overriding civilisation is when they first they realise there are no adults and that they have unlimited freedom, 'the fair boy said this solemnly; but then the delight of a realised ambition overcame him', the contrast between 'solemnly' and 'delight' whilst being very close together shows how easily and quickly they are letting their ambition overtake their initial views and ideas. Ralph has the ambition to control the island, whilst Ralph holds onto civilisation we can see that his ambition is very primal and this ambition comes from the freedom. Piggy contrasts to the idea of the lack of adults being a good thing, "Grownups know things," said Piggy. "They ain't afraid of the dark. They'd meet and have tea and discuss. Then things 'ud be all right-", the use of tea whilst describing the adults show that Piggy thinks that adults are a sign of civilisation. This shows us that Piggy believes that freedom isn't a good thing and that the boys cannot be trusted with it, Piggy likes the rules and order of civilisation and this is what stops him from being a savage. This also leads onto the fact that Piggy is constantly excluded, Piggy does not want the power, he just wants to be heard but he is a follower. Piggy does not have to need to control and this also stops him from becoming a savage. The boys want to act as adults and be the ones to take away each other's freedom, however their naivety means that they are bad leaders and they resort to savagery instead.
Piggy's lack of drive for power means that he holds onto civilisation because he does not want to compete with any of the other boys who resort to savagery. However, the other boys hunger for power drives them towards savagery as they all try and take control of the island and use their freedom to become more dominant. Jack abuses his power the most, 'give me a drink', this shows how Jack uses the power all for himself whilst Ralph used his power to build fires in an attempt to get off the island, this shows that Jack is very self centred and that he wants to control his 'tribe' in a way that makes him feel powerful for his own self fulfilment . Jacks need for power starts off rooted in civilisation, "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.", the fact that he can sing in 'C sharp' means nothing on the island but he says it because it makes him seem better than everyone else but it shows that civilisation is still in him before he gets power. This contrasts to when he gets power and how he sets himself apart from everyone else whilst he has the power, "I painted my face—I stole up. Now you eat—all of you—and I—", this shows that he is now expressing his strengths through savage activities such as his painted face and how he got the food. He is now boasting about his savagery whereas he was boasting about his achievements in society before. The word 'stole' shows that they are losing their rules and how anything goes on the island regardless if it is morally right or wrong and the repetition of 'I' shows how he is constantly wanting to be the single best on the island and this shows how the power corrupts him.
Fear brings out the true inner nature of man in Lord Of The Flies by showing us the boys savagery. The fear changes people, 'the small boy twisted further into himself', this quote shows us the early signs of fear changing the boys. The way the boy twists 'further into himself' could hint at how the fear highlights the inner nature of man being inside ourselves and that the fear makes us show our inner primal intuitions that are inside us hiding away. We can see that the beast corrupts because Simon does not believe in the beast but he believes that the boys are essentially the beasts, ''What I mean is… maybe it's only us'', Simon is a figure of rationality and he has ideas about what is going on but he is not listened to because the other boys think that the beast is not real and that the little kids are fooling around, however the beast and fear becomes their main downfall and regression into savagery. Simons idea contrasts to the later events which result in the boys doing a ritual in order to kill the beast, ''Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!'', this shows their true regression into savagery as we can see that they are resorting to violence to kill something that does not exist and that they have fabricated themselves. It is ironic because they end up killing the person who reveals the truth about the beast and it is almost like the boys do not want to face that they are the savages and the beast that they are afraid of.
In conclusion we can see that the inner nature of man is shown through the boys lack of maturity and lack of control over their situation even though they think they are in total control. Their greed leads them to their downfall and regression into savagery. The blind violence that they end up using over words and the face paint over their true identities show that they want to be something they are not and this ends up corrupting them all to a point and everyone who goes against the savagery becomes a victim of it. This shows that in the end the boys do not end up creating a new society but they become further away from a stable one than they have ever been due to civilisations mask being broken down by savagery and revealing the true inner nature of man.