Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

In the end, all the boys learn a lesson. They had many struggles and troubles of staying together as a group. Jack and his hunting group ended up setting the whole island on fire. “ The fire was a big one and the drum-roll that he has thought was left so far behind was nearer. Couldn't a fire outrun a galloping horse?” ( Chapter 12, Page 278) The horrific fire caught the attention of a naval vessel passing by the island. Ralph collapses in exhaustion, but when he wakes up, he sees a British naval officer right over him.

Ralph made sure all the older kids on the island had a key job role to ensure safety and survival by setting things straight. Ralph orders the hunters to keep the fire going because it produced smoke which could signal the ships nearby securing their rescue. Ralph spotted ships and knew there shouldn’t be any fooling around because it is up to them if the fire stays lit or not. He, himself, was focused on providing everyone with shelter and was determined to do it by himself if he had to, whether the hunters did their job or not. Unlike Ralph, who is doing his job, the Jack’s choir ignores the fire and goes out hunting. When the fire goes out, the hunters aren’t really upset with the fire going out while Ralph saw that the situation could’ve been their rescue saying, “There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out” (70)! If he had the same attitude as the other boys nothing would likely get done and he would remain the same as before and not care about the aftermath, but he continues to act mature and not this incident stop him from trying to seek rescue. This shows his change because of how he sees the priority of being rescued and keeping the fire lit expressing his maturity and showing his understanding of life not just about having fun like most adults

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is a very iconic book in my opinion. This novel consists mostly of symbolism. Lord of the Flies talked about the relationship of teenage boys who survived a plane crash together. The boys are all on their own and struggling. They encounter many incidences that comply symbolism. A couple of the acts of symbolism are the beast the boys kept imagining, Piggy’s glasses, and the conch. The boys are all afraid of the beast, Piggy’s glasses demonstrate the fact that he saw everything more clear then the boys and how he started the fire. Lastly, the last of the most important symbolisms in the novel is the conch, showing the civilization and order.

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.

One of the main symbols throughout the book was the symbol of fire. Ralph, being the leader at this point, called a meeting to try to get through to them that the fire is how they will survive: "The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make?...Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can’t keep a fire going to make smoke. Don’t you understand? Can’t you see we ought to—ought to die before we let the fire out?" (31) Ralph is trying to explain to everyone that the fire is the key to survival. Also he is trying to convey that fire will save them and get them off the island. When Jack bought the idea up that they should make a fire all the boys were so excited and all they could think about is making a fire, even though Ralph was trying to call them to order: “‘A fire! Make a fire!’ At once half the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten. "Come on! Follow me!" The space under the palm trees was full of noise and movement. Ralph was on his feet too, shouting for quiet, but no one heard him. All at once the crowd swayed toward the island and was gone—following Jack” (37). Jack was convincing everyone to go with him and they did, and stopped listening to Ralph. Also Jack is starting to become the

In the middle of the novel the destruction and savagery are showing more, along with that the innocence is leaving the boys more prominently now. Most of the boys have lost that innocence, except Ralph, Piggy, and Simon. They are still hopeful of rescue and have their mind focused when it comes to the fire. Ralph usually enforces the need for smoke, as he is still

To keep this fire going, they needed to work together and cooperate with one another, which also shows signs of civilization. Jack and his hunters neglected the responsibilities of the fire to hunt, causing the fire to go out. After a few weeks on the island, Jack has yet to catch a pig and therefore is hunting nonstop in hopes of finally making his first kill. A few days before, Jack and his hunters took responsibility to keep the signal fire going for a week: "Ralph, I'll split up the choir--my hunters, that is--into groups, and we'll be responsible for keeping the fire going--" (42-43). But when Jack actually had a chance to kill his first pig, he told his hunters to come help instead of keeping the fire going: "The rest are making a line. Come on!" (64). Jack starting to lose connections with society; he began to give in to his instincts and personal desires. He was more interested in satisfying his own goals than what’s good for the group, causing the fire to go out. Because of his neglection, the ship that passed by didn’t see them and the boys lost their chance of getting

When the boys first set up the fire, they think that it will just be used for a smoke signal. Ralph, the leader of the group, has a very close connection with the fire. It gives him hope that they will someday

Ralph makes the decision to have a fire going constantly in order to be seen on the island for rescue. He gives jack and the choir boys the job of keeping the fire going but Jack chooses to go hunt and let the fire go out, meanwhile a ship goes by. The boys were not seen by the ship because the fire went out. Ralph was incredibly upset with Jack and the choir boys. The boys would not have needed the pig they hunted if the fire would have been lit, they would be rescued.

The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel about several boys who are stranded on an island trying to create a functioning society. On this island the boys have to build their own houses, hunt for their food, and have to make some form of government. The perfect society the boys wanted ended up falling apart and changes everyone’s behavior. The boys end up turning against each other and starts a civil war. Symbolism plays an important part in the development of the story. In this novel symbolism was given to an object with some form of meaning and sometimes a character was symbolized. Some of these objects in the novel included the conch shell, Piggy’s glasses, and fire. Also as the story progresses the meanings of some objects change symbolically.

Symbols and characters play major roles in representing power in works of literature. Therefore, an author uses these ‘symbols of power’ to control the characters and the overall course of the work. In Lord of the Flies symbols are both used by the characters and stand on their own. Fire on the island is a dual blade and Lord of the Flies impedes on progression. While these two symbols stand on their own, the characters use and are used by them. Ralph leads the boys to advancement while Jack stands as his opposition, both using other symbols of power to assist them.

This shows symbolically that Ralph is the leader of the boys and they can’t be civilized without him. Soon after they land Ralph believes that his father is going to come and rescue them. “When he gets leave, he’ll come rescue us” ( Golding 13). Ralph had no reason to think that his father was coming to rescue them, but Ralph always kept his faith in being rescued. Instead of waiting on his father to rescue them Ralph decides to have a fire for passing boats to see them and come rescue them.

The pensive boys collaborated to create ways to escape the island. Ralph, the leader of the group, had the idea to start a signal fire. Once this idea was announced to the assembly the boys dashed to the top of the mountain. After setting the fire, it quickly began to spiral out of control. The soon uncontrollable fire spread down one side of the island. The majority of the boys were mesmerized by the unmanageable fire, while piggy, being the intellectual of the group saw the dangers. The rowdy boys were incited by the fire, but soon after Piggy expressed his concerns. An uncontrollable fire can be deadly, it can be difficult to hinder and Piggy realized this. He expressed his thoughts about the threats the fire could cause to all of them.

Throughout the book, fire plays an important role in both the boys’ rescue and survival. Once Jack has left with a majority of the boys to form his

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the stranded boys come into contact with some particular elements that represent an idea which are called symbols. These symbols include the beast which represents the fear of the unknown and the darkness of mankind. The second symbol is the signal fire which represents hope. The third symbol is the conch shell which represents order. Golding indicates that when man is taken out of civilization, they have a natural instinct is to become evil, darkness and barbaric and these symbols help to support his opinion.