William Golding’s classic novel, The Lord of the Flies, paints a grim portrait of human nature, illustrating how, without the constraint of civilization, we descend into savagery. Yet, in the end, the mere presence of an adult brings the chaos to an immediate end. So, ignoring for the moment how we can draw conclusions about human nature from a work of fiction, does this really tell us about human nature, or a world where we suddenly find our elders disappeared, and our traditions broken?