How does Lord of the Flies challenge our understanding of tolerance?

Lord of the Flies presents many examples of intolerance among the boys, and a few examples of tolerance. To help evaluate how these interactions aid our understanding of tolerance, we can think of characters representing classes of people. The littluns represent society's most vulnerable people and those who are least able to contribute. Thus they could stand for children, severely disabled people, the mentally ill, or other groups who need to be cared for. Only Piggy, Ralph, and Simon tend to display much concern for the littluns in the book. Jack is particularly dismissive of them, suggesting at one point that they can use a littlun for "a real pig" in their game. The first victim of their society is the littlun with the mulberry birthmark who dies in the first fire. This shows that neglect of and intolerance for society's most vulnerable is one of the first stages of a civilized society's deterioration.

Piggy--who is overweight, doesn't like "manual labor," speaks with a different accent, wears glasses, and has asthma--is continually teased and excluded by the boys, even Ralph at first. He represents those who most members of the society consider weaker and less attractive, such as immigrants or the poor. Piggy bears the brunt of Jack's bullying--Jack punches him in the stomach and breaks his glasses. Bullies prey on the weak, and they often gain followers because, by oppressing those who are weak, they appear strong. The other boys encourage Jack by laughing when Jack mocks Piggy after breaking his glasses. Even Ralph almost laughs, but finally defends him, telling Jack, "That was a dirty trick." It takes self-control and courage to stand up to those who are mocking and preying on the weak.

Simon is also excluded by the other boys and eventually murdered by them. As the most sensitive and insightful boy on the island, and also one who suffers from epilepsy, Simon could represent religious people, artists, or philosophers in a society. People who don't share the same views may tend to think the others are "batty," as even Ralph calls Simon. Intolerance for the beliefs of others is shown, metaphorically, to be one of the worst forms of intolerance, for Simon is brutally murdered by the mob, although he is merely trying to bring them a better understanding of the "beast" and would have helped them.

When Jack forms his own tribe, the complete intolerance of the "other" flourishes. Jack sets up elaborate defenses on Castle Rock, even though the other boys present no threat to his tribe. Finally, when Ralph is the only one not part of Jack's tribe, they determine to hunt and kill him, simply because he is "other." This is the nadir of morality and the death-knell of civilization when intolerance is given complete and utter license to destroy the "other."