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The Destruction Of Society In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

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Humans kill, whether it be animals, insects or people. The justice system is used to try and fix what others have done and in this way they are punished. They are punished in a functioning society with rules and laws, but when all that is stripped away, we are left with mass destruction and humans that kill. The novel Lord of the Flies, published in 1954 and written by Nobel Prize winning author, William Golding, portrays the violence and eradication of a functioning society through young boys stranded on an island. Golding uses the symbol fire and forgetfulness of the need for it to develop the theme of the loss of society and creation of uncivilized destruction.
Ralph as chief in the beginning of Lord of the Flies uses fire to fuel his main goal as a leader, which is to get back home. He treats the fire as a necessity and one of the most important assets on the island. Ralph uses the smoke from the fire as a safety net that keeps him comfortable and with the hope of getting home. He says, “‘And we’ll be responsible for keeping a lookout too. If we see a ship out there...we’ll put green branches on. Then there’ll be more smoke” (Golding 43). Ralph emphasizes the need for the smoke as he sees this as one of the only ways that they will ever be rescued. Ralph is still full of hope for life and escaping. This fire will keep them safe and this fire will rescue him and all of the others. As chief, he wants others to have the same hope about being saved that he does which is

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