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Ap Lit Essay On Lord Of The Flies

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Mackenzie Eaton British Literature II Mr. Sackrider 9 May 2024 Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis Instinct vs Control: Unraveling Social Boundaries What keeps the world from descending into chaos? Take a moment to look around: things are orderly and calm. But why not? Now, think about a pack of wolves. Wolves are tough hunters and can be dangerous. Now imagine a pet dog—friendly, playful, and harmless. It is common knowledge that dogs have evolved from wolves, but what's crucial to understand is that dogs have spent more time with humans. Being around humans has changed a fierce wolf into a loving pet. This comparison is like how the boys were when they first arrived on the island, starting like friendly dogs, but eventually turning into something more like fierce wolves as they …show more content…

It is meant to make smoke signals that will help get the boys rescued. Sadly, most of the boys fail to see the importance of the fire as Ralph does. Jack then, without thinking, uses the firekeepers to hunt and by the time they get back, the fire is out. Ralph at this point yells at Jack because he let the fire out and articulates that he is the sole reason why they are not getting rescued. Jack still fails to see the importance of the fire or how he did anything wrong, so Ralph exclaims to Jack that “‘There was a ship. Out there. [You] said, ‘[You would] keep the fire going and [you] let it out!’” (Golding 70). In this particular instance, the fire embodies a physical representation of the boys’ connection to civilization. Keeping that idea in mind, Ralph’s fury with Jack’s negligence towards the fire demonstrates his pragmatic attitude towards hierarchies and rules within the group; he feels that everyone must prioritize them or the group will lose their connection to society. Jack’s failure to prioritize the fire not only displays his disregard for the law, but also displays his disregard for the group’s

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Ralph is furious at Jack for letting the fire out, scared that this was their only time to be rescued. I also think that it represents survival as fire ends up being how they get rescued and fire stays prominent throughout the novel. The way they are rescued ends up not actually being through the signal fire but because of them trying to kill Ralph and smoking

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Ralph calls another meeting to reinforce the rules they made for survival, such as keeping the fire burning. Jack rebels against the rules and influences many other boys to follow. During Jack’s speech, he uses ethos, pathos, and logos to try and persuade his audience.

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William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies is not just a book about children stranded on an island, but is instead about the collapse of order when chaos is common. More specifically, it is about Ralph’s struggles to decide between being a savage or maintaining stability. Ralph often feels a strong desire to participate in the savagery that Jack’s group practices throughout his time on the island.

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no one, not even Jack, would ask him to move and in the end they had to build the fire three yards away and in a place not really as convenient."  This statement reveals Ralph's power to full effect. Just his presence is upholding complete domination so much so that the boys will not ask him move. Instead they move the fire to "a place not really as convenient" meaning in a spot that's not as noticeable for a passing ship or

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" Lord of the Flies" is a novel about a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a barren island. They build norms and organizational systems, but in the absence of adults to serve as a civilizing impetus, the children inevitably become violent and vicious. Through the emblem of the conch shell, William Golding shows how the loss of order/civilization and law leads to the emergence of barbaric behavior triumphing over society.

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So when Golding tells us that in Jack’s “left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.” (191), it demonstrates that Jack’s savage boys now have the power to make fire. The fire symbolizes hope when on the civilized side but its inner demon is of destruction and evil. Predictably this demon does in fact come out when in the end Jack and his boys “had smoked him (Ralph) out and set the island on fire” (Golding 224), in order to kill Ralph. Ironically, the fire instead fulfills its civilized purpose, of a signal instead of killing Ralph. The purpose and the extreme strength of the fire here shows us that the boys had become brutal savages, literally killing civilization out of the their systems.

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His mind is in hunting mode. He quickly becomes obsessed with the action of killing innocent animals for meat. Jack convinces the twins, who were supposed to be in charge of the fire, to go hunt with the rest of the group and of course the offer is so tempting that they agree. At the same time that the boys leave the fire unattended, a ship happens to pass by. Ralph quickly realizes that there is no smoke coming from the fire and rushes to the top.

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Ralph is adamant that the fire must be going all the time for the chance of a ship to see and rescue them. While the choir is supposed to have people manning the fire, it goes out. Jack demands that the two fire keepers leave with him to help circle the wild boar. During the time that the fire is out, Ralph spots a ship

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Jack’s tribe then lit a fire to smoke Ralph out into the open, so they could find him and kill him. Originally the fire was used for the purpose of rescue but now is being used to create chaos and to kill Ralph. In chapter 12 of the novel, the fire symbolically rages out of control. This shows how far the boys have strayed from being civilized and how primitive and savage the boys have become. In the book, the boys decide to build a fire to help them get rescued, but as time goes on, the fire is used for harmful things such as killing Ralph in the last chapter.

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At the beginning of the book, the upkeep of the signal fire is a non-negotiable duty for the boys, showing how they are still attached to society. Jack and his hunters abandon this duty, and an outraged Ralph confronts them, telling them that they should not “let that fire out,” and that Jack promised to “keep the smoke going” (Golding 71). When Ralph tells the hunters that the fire should not go out, it becomes apparent that Ralph views the fire as a duty that everyone must adhere to, and this is exemplified when Ralph confronts Jack, demonstrating that Ralph believes in society and that the boys will be rescued. During

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Throughout the beginning of the novel, Ralph is the leader of the fight to keep and maintain the fire, but he is starting to give up hope and lets the fire die. Lastly, fire symbolizes hope during the end of the novel. Jack and most of the other boys have turned on Ralph and want to “hunt” him. They decided that the best way to get Ralph to come to them on the beach was to light the whole forest on fire so Ralph would be forced out to the beach. Ralph was trying to run out of the forest as “the roar of the forest rose to thunder and a tall bush directly in his path burst into a great fan-shaped fan.

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The fire has developed into yet another symbol of dispute between Ralph and Jack because their viewpoints never seem to align. Also, the way Ralph and Jack individually use the fire is a key part of what it symbolizes. Ralph can be seen using the fire as a way to get them to safety sooner and as a tool to help everyone. On the other hand, Jack can be seen using the fire as a tool for destruction, which leads to the fire being used as one of the major parts of the island’s demise. The fluctuations in how the fire is being used is a large factor in what the fire represents throughout the story.

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1179 Words | 5 Pages

Jack decides to leave the fire unattended and goes to hunt instead. Ralph discovers this just in time to see a boat sail by as the fire is out. Ralph says, “There was a ship. Out there. You said you'd keep the fire going and you let it out!’”

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History has demonstrated that human beings can do very deplorable things when in groups. In his allegorical novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding focus on a group of British boys stranded on an inhabited island and tries to govern themselves with disastrous results. He shows the dark side of human psychology and how our morality is flexible depending on the situation we are in. The meaning of the symbols in the novel is change with the developing of the story and plays an important role.

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Ralph becomes infuriated when he discovers that Jack and the other boys left the Fire unattended to hunt. After Jack comes back with a successful kill, Ralph immediately confronts him and says, "There was a ship out there. You said you 'd keep the fire going and you let it out" (74). Ralph expresses his disappointment in Jack and implies that they missed possibly their only chance to be rescued. The Fire causes Jack and Ralph to provoke tension between themselves, eventually leading to deeper conflicts that drives the plot continuously in the novel.

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