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Fire In Lord Of The Flies

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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. The symbolization of the conch is social order, respect and democratic power. Ralph and Piggy discovered the shell on the beach at the start of the story and use it to summon the boys together after they were separated by the crash so that they can share …show more content…

First, the fire represents civilization and hope. Fire is the symbol of people from primitive to civilized and separated human from animals. In the story, Ralph knows that if they want to come back to civilized society, they must make fire to get attention from the passing boats and planes. “The place under the palm trees was full of noise and movement” (Golding 49). The fire is the hope, is the connection between the boys and civilized world and is the signal of rescue. Except the fire makes by the boys, there has another “fire” happens on the place that Simon always stays. “Their green sepals drew back a little and the white tips of the flowers rose delicately to meet the open air” (Golding 72). When Simon first sees these flowers, he calls them candles. Although this “fire” is not as bright as real fire, it can illumines Simon’s heart and let him think deeply what is the beast. Second, the fire represents ruin and destruction. Fire not only can bring people warn and hope but also can bring disaster. “Smoke was rising here and there among the creepers that festooned the dead or dying trees” (Golding 56). The boys are shocked by the vast fire and don’t know what to do. The hopeful fire reveals its destructive side and start changing its role. Because the boys are fear about the beast from the top of the mountain, they begin losing interest to keep the fire and start moving the fire down to the bottom of the mountain. This

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894 Words | 4 Pages

This symbol is evident from the beginning: when the boys use Piggy’s glasses lenses to focus sunlight and create a fire. When Jack’s hunters steal the glasses, the savages take their power to make fire, leaving Ralph’s group without help. The Conch Shell- It’s a symbol of civilization that governs the boys’ meetings (who holds the shell can speak), political validity and democratic rule.

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436 Words | 2 Pages

Fire Burning From Within William Golding uses his words to foreshadow the impending conflict between chaos and order. Golding uses of imagery through his words and phrases such as “stirred restlessly” and “Beastie” (page 36) are used in a manner that promotes fear. The imagery allows the reader to imagine what the little boys are seeing and this intern allows people to understand better what the boys think they are fearing. This fear is shown in the way the younger boys, who are seen as innocent, describe the strange creature. The “Beastie” is a symbol for the evil in humans and how just like the creature can take over the imagination of the boys, it can take over the character of them as well.

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372 Words | 2 Pages

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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672 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning the boys want to sustain the fire. This demonstrates their want to be return home. Nevertheless,  when the fire is allowed to go out, it is emblematic of the boys refusal of civilization and return to

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989 Words | 4 Pages

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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581 Words | 3 Pages

The boys are on a deserted island so of course they need light. When it gets dark, the fire is a good way to see through the night, and when the boys have to hunt at night the fire helps them see through the woods. Using the light also helps to keep off unwanted predators like the “beast”. Since the boys are so young the light from the fire helps them not get too scared at night. “The twins shared their identical laughter, then remember the darkness and other things and glanced round uneasily.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

they had smoked him out and set the island on fire”. The fire that once had the ability to save the kids, now acts as an offprint of their savagery. The signal fire changes its meaning throughout the book, at the beginning it represented rescue and a possible connection to civilization, but at the end of the novel it represented evil and

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169 Words | 1 Pages

The boys who ought to look after the fire, follows Jack to go hunt. He made a commitment to allow some of his choir boys to watch the fire, but he fails to keep to his commitment. “They let the bloody fire out.” (Golding, 68). The boys let their Golden chance to wash down the drain like a flowing river.

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1077 Words | 5 Pages

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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1331 Words | 6 Pages

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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1031 Words | 5 Pages

Naturally, fire is thought of in conjunction with destruction, but in a survival sense it signifies hope and warmth. Carrying the fire basically means that even though all the odds are against the father and son they are still pushing forward. It is something to live for when truly there isn’t. At the end of the story, when the father dies, the boy has to continue on the legacy without him. When he stumbles upon a man who asks if he wants to join their family the boy immediately asks if he’s carrying the fire.

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835 Words | 4 Pages

The fire was also a symbol of civilization, that the boys would survive and get rescued. Fire is quite profound in what it reveals about humans. The fire was the object that the hunters didn’t have, it was desirable because it was limited. The fire brought out the innate greed that humans possess. The hunters weren’t content with asking for fire from Ralph, they were too prideful and savage to be civil in any manner, so they stole it.

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248 Words | 1 Pages

Can’t you see we ought to-ought to die before we let the fire out” (Golding 81).Nothing is the most significant except making the fire. If they fire is “out”, all children lose a chance to get rescued. The fire mean light which direct people to go to a straight road, so the fire give a hope to all children. The light like civilization who guide them to back to a stable life as at home in England. The fires still gives a good future to them because children can see

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697 Words | 3 Pages

The fire is the boy’s constant connection to civilization. The fire wavers throughout the novel; for example in the beginning the boys want to maintain the fire leading the reader to believe they want to be rescued and return to a savage less life. Golding always makes a reference to the strength of the fire in different settings of the book. When the fire dwindles and goes out the audience realizes that the boys’ savage instinct has taken over them and they don’t care to be rescued any longer. At the end of the novel the fire turns into not only a signal fire but a full blown forest fire in efforts to end Ralphs’ life.

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454 Words | 2 Pages

The conch shell is not just a symbol, but also democratic power, which later in the novel it loses its power. Eventually, the boulder that crushed Piggy also crushes the conch shell signifying the loss of civilized instinct in almost all of the boys on the island.

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