Fire In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

The fire is a symbol for hope to be rescued and it also symbolizes destruction. The fire is a signal for the ships to let them know that there is someone stuck/living on this island. If the fire goes out, the hopes of the people stuck would be lost too.

Lord of the Flies is a gruesome, dark and intense novel written as a political allegory by the author William Golding. In this novel Lord of the Flies, there are various significant symbols the most being Piggy’s glasses because of how it allows a logical smart boy to see and perform tasks, it becomes a tool of innovation being able to start fires, and how it leads to the destruction of an island.

Symbols are often used in literature to drive plot, give clues to events in the story, and develop key characters. They have more than one meaning, and in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are three key symbols used: the conch, Piggy’s eyeglasses and the impaled pigs head. These three symbols will be discussed by using specific references to the text as well as examining how they negatively impact the characters in the story.

Fire can represent knowledge and industry. I feel the relationship between Ralph and the fire conveys that Ralph is certainly a good person to be in power on the island. This is because Ralph feels it is most important to maintain the fire. On figurative terms, Ralph wants to keep the knowledge and hardwork alive, and use common sense in order to be rescued, whereas Jack just wants to take chances and

Golding’s inclusion of fire/smoke at key moments in the novel helps develop it as a symbol to reinforce the idea that savagery subdues civilization. We see these savage acts by Jack and his hunters in chapter ten. While Jack is sitting with his tribe somewhere on the island far from Ralph and his tribe, they realize that they have nothing to light the fire with. Before this, Jack and his hunters had no interest in lighting and watching the fire. This all changed now that they have more meat and are becoming pure savages together. They decided that attacking Ralph and his tribe will get them what they want. “He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (186). Jack and his hunters’ decisions demonstrate that savagery can make people do horrible things.

Fire is a symbol that cannot be described in one word. Fire represents destruction, death, hostility, unpredictability, and the potential for limitless violence. Fire, however, also has a good side to it. Fire can be health, hospitality, control, food, shelter, light, and strength. With these characteristics in mind, fire has a number of different connotations. Many of these connotations can be found in one book. Fire, in William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, is a complex symbol, representing anarchy and the darkness inside of us, civilization and the light in all of us, and hope, the constant motivator for our survival.

In William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies” Novel, symbolism is a very important element of the book, Many symbols show how the boys on the island are slowly becoming savage and losing their civility.

When stranded on an island, objects around may be helpful to survive or get rescued or some may lead to destruction. Well at least that is what happened on an island that teenagers were stranded on. The teenager boys from Lord of the flies, get stranded on an island because their plane crashed. While they are there, one of the boys named Piggy finds a conch. The same boy has glasses, which helps start the fire. The fire is what the boys use to help get rescued. All these objects like the conch, glasses, and fire are very symbolic in the novel. In lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the symbols at the beginning of the novel, like the conch representing civilization, Piggy’s glasses representing intelligence and the fire representing hope,

The symbols in the Lord of the Flies all change meaning throughout the novel. As the boys change and develop, the symbols change with them. Some may become more positive or more negative and some may change meaning completely. Ralph, Piggy, and Jack all adjust to being stranded on the island differently and therefore react to and treat the objects on the island differently. With Jack’s development into savagery throughout the novel, his carelessness is evident in his lack of acknowledgement of symbols that are important to Ralph and Piggy who look at this experience more logically and optimistically. One symbol that changed dramatically throughout the novel is the fire. The fire in the Lord of the Flies is introduced as a symbol for hope, develops into destruction and is finalized as a representation of salvation.

For the purpose of the fire, this symbol is undoubtedly significant to the boys rescue off of the island in the Lord of the Flies. William Golding is the author who wrote the book, Lord of the Flies. Golding expresses that fire is genuinely important to their rescue on the island because Ralph says “So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire!” (Golding 38). During this part of the story, the boys have decided their leader to be Ralph and the boys are in a meeting to talk about what's what. The idea of creating a fire is introduced to the readers and they can create a clear and pure image of what the fire is supposed to represent in the Lord of the Flies. As it has been previously stated, without the fire on the island, the boy’s would not be able to get rescued. Later in

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he shows what he believe is truly hidden in people in a series of ideas and symbols hidden in people and objects. The symbolism of the fire, the conch and Piggy’s glasses are important for the message in the book.

The symbol of salvation is represented by the conch on the island. It also stands for power, as the boys decide to “let [Ralph] be chief with the trumpet-thing.” Whoever is holding the conch has the power to be the only boy allowed to speak, which is similar to the power of a church bell ringing to bring people together for a service or an extremely important announcement. Later in the novel, salvation is associated with fire, as “life became a race with the fire. … To keep a clean flag of flame flying on the mountain was the immediate end and no one looked further.” Keeping the fire burning symbolizes the boy’s humanity, so that when it is extinguished it can no longer be contained and the evil emerges from within the boys. Fire is associated with hope, warmth and friendship but it is the cause of conflict, destruction and death in the novel. By the end of the second chapter, fire has already taken its first victim – the little boy with the mulberry mark on his skin- who disappears during the

The third symbol used is the fire. The fire represents hope, and the idea of being rescued. Ralph reminds Jack and his hunters about the fire nonstop because all they want to do is hunt. “ The most important thing on the island is the smoke and you can’t have no smoke without a fire”(Golding,129). It is ironic how the fire ended up almost killing him, and saving him. “ They had smoked him out and set the island on fire” (Golding, 197). Throughout the novel the fire is initially used for a meaningful purpose.

When the fire is maintained, the boys want to be rescued. However, when the fire burns low or goes out it symbolizes how the boys have lost sight of their desire to be saved, and how they have accepted savagery into their lives. The signal fire also symbolizes the measurement of the strength of the civilized instinct and hope remaining on the island.

Now that Jack is the new leader, he became increasingly greedy and mean and exiled Ralph and Piggy from the rest of the group and left them with nothing, except the symbolic origin of fire, Piggy’s glasses. But instead of using fire to divide the group they really needed everyone to come together to create a controlled fire so they can get off the island. While Ralph and Piggy were away Jack tried to create a signal fire, but instead he created a bonfire that ended up burning a quarter of the island down. Piggy walks up to Jack and told him (because he was mad): “‘You got your small fire all right.’ ...the boys were falling still and silent, feeling the beginnings of awe at the power set free below them” (55). Jack knew they needed a fire, but in reality Jack did not understand how destructive a fire can be, and ended up killing one of the members of the group with the fire he started. With the group divided and life in danger, the symbolic meaning of fire is displayed in this quote because it demonstrates the order and or chaos that is on the island and how nearly all of the social structure on the island could be lost as quickly as the time it takes to snap Piggy’s glasses in half.