Consider the emotional basis of the boys’ choice of leaders: Initially they vote for Ralph not because he has demonstrated leadership skills but because of his charisma and arbitrary possession of the conch. Later they desert him — and the reasoned democracy he promotes — to join Jack’s tribe because Jack’s way of life, with the war paint and ritualized dance, seems like more fun. Choosing Jack’s “fun” tribe indicates a dangerous level of emotionally based self-indulgence. By relying on emotion to decide the island’s political format, the boys open themselves up to the possibility of violence because violence lies in the domain of emotion.
Yet Jack’s mentality on a larger scale is not fun and games but warfare, a concept made clear at the end: When Ralph encounters the officer on the beach, he notices first not the officer’s face but his uniform and revolver, which are the markings of the officer’s tribe. The decorative elements of his uniform symbolize his war paint. His ship will be enacting the same sort of manhunt for his enemy that Jack’s tribe conducts for Ralph.
