Jack is unable to kill the piglet because he has only just come from his very civilized and orderly world and has not yet tapped into any primal urges. But, he resolves that he will never falter again.
In Chapter One, the boys explore the island on which they now find themselves. As they climb the mountain, they encounter an environment of untamed nature: flowers, trees, rocks, creepers, bushes. In a thicket the boys hear the sound of little hooves and squealing; there they find a piglet caught in "a curtain of creepers." Jack, who has a knife, raises his arm up in order to drive this weapon into the piglet. But, he hesitates ever so slightly:
The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be. Then the piglet tore loose ….They were left looking at each other and the place of terror. Jack’s face was white under the freckles.
Jack then makes an excuse for his trepidation, saying that he was only waiting for the right moment to stab the piglet, who was obviously trapped. But, he is cut off by Ralph, who fiercely criticizes him.
They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.
Embarrassed, Jack resolves that "[N]ext time there would be no mercy."
In this expository scene that begins the development of the theme of the inherent evil in man kept in check only because of controls established by civilized society, Jack's hesitation exemplifies his conditioning by civilization. For, it is only this conditioning which suspends his act of stabbing the piglet.
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