Fire In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is about a group of boys who struggle in maintaining a signal fire while stranded on an island. Often, people believe that the fire does not play an important role in the novel, however, the fire is actually much more sophisticated and is able to represent how their connection to society keeps the boys alive. By continuing to believe that the fire represents the boys’ rejection of society, readers will misunderstand Golding’s emphasis on having faith and reliance in society. Throughout the progression of the novel, Golding uses the symbol of fire to represent how the boys’ necessity for societal interventions and actions are important in everyday life. When the fire goes out, it signifies the boys losing their link to civilization and represents when their savage behavior begins to take over. In chapter four, Jack and his hunter “ ‘let the fire go out’ ”, causing them to miss the fact that “there was a ship” that had passed the island

With the creation of the signal fire, the boys then decide to use the conch to only have only one person “talking at once” and create “ ‘lots of rules’ “ (Golding 33). This shows the similarities between the real world and the boys’ group because the boys are controlling their island through the same ideas. At the end of the novel, the “thunder of the fire” when the forest was all on fire also brings society into the picture and shows how the boys need society in order to survive (Golding 200). Before the naval officer came, the boys were all acting like savages. However, the fire sparks and becomes enormous, showing how the boys would probably kill each other without the help of the society because the children can’t live without the ideals of civilization. With the ignition of the fire, Golding is showing how it brought the reality of the boys’ savagery to light, emphasizing the importance of having