It was specifically a contrast on the colonizer mindset that was common both in culture and literature at the time. Showing a bunch of useless british aristocrats coming to "savage lands" and rather than taming the land they were shown that without their wealth and power and being taken care of by competent natives and labourers they became the savages they claimed to be inherently divinely better than.

When lunchtime approached at her usual morning time, Becca waited and waited, still and silent, till the sun set on the calm and foamy sea. She sat waiting in the golden hour sun, stomach churning, wondering why.

Hmm, interesting. To be fair, I haven't read it since HS and that was...decades ago. Based on what you said I might reread and reassess.

Fair, my analysis of it was that it was more metaphorical. That you could abstract it easily to global society at large.

The rejection of intellectualism through breaking glasses. The war caused over superstition. The one disabled kid being murdered first could be read as a criticism of extreme right wing ideology.

The Forrest burning is very reminiscent of American napalm bombing. Hell the meetings could be compared to the UN if you squint

Humans aren’t monsters until they reach a critical mass. Then they’re just awful.