The story begins with the boy with fair climbing down the rocks. A voice behind him calls out for him to wait. This voice comes from a fat boy who wears , or glasses. The first boy introduces himself as , and the second boy introduces himself as .

The two boys are on an with no because their was shot down. Ralph, who is years old, stands on his because he is happy to discover that there are no grownups on the island. thinks that the pilot will be back to get the boys, but tells him that he saw the part of the plane with the pilot in flames. He continues to tell that the passenger part of the plane was carried out to sea by a storm. Piggy assumes that there must be other boys on the island. Ralph seems not to pay too much attention to Piggy and runs through the jungle. Piggy says that he shouldn’t run on account of his .

gets naked and goes for a swim in the pool. does not go because he cannot swim; he wasn’t allowed to because of his . Ralph says he learned how because his dad is in the . Piggy’s father is dead, and he was living with his . He tells Piggy that his father will come and rescue them once he gets some time off. Piggy doesn’t think this is possible because the pilot had told them that there was an atom and the people at the airport were all .

After Ralph’s swim, the two boys come across a , a shell that can be used like a trumpet to call any other boys on the island. The was cream color with a bit of fading pink throughout the shell. instructs to push air from his diaphragm in order to get enough air to blow the . After gets the conch to sound, boys start gathering in front of Ralph and Piggy.

Many boys come, but the last group of boys is a choir. Each member wears a black with a badge on it. Their entire bodies are covered by a cloak, which “bore a silver on the breast.” The boy who is in charge of this group wears a badge on his cap. This boy introduces himself by his last name----although his first name is .

After everyone laughs at because of his name and after everyone introduces themselves, Ralph suggest that they decide on a to make decisions. says that he should be chief because he is the head boy of the and he can sing a C sharp. Roger suggests that all the boys vote to see who should be chief. The boys vote to be chief. Ralph offers control of the choir, and Jack decides that the choir will be .

Ralph, Jack, and go on an exploration to decide that they are indeed on an . On their way back from the exploration, they find a stuck in the creepers. raises his to kill it, but he hesitates and it gets away. He promises himself that the next time he has the chance to there will be no mercy.