How Does Golding Use Fire In Lord Of The Flies

The Lord of the Flies is a novel filled with many objects and individuals that represent different ideas. Symbols such as fire, Piggy’s glasses, darkness, and the conch shell are important in reading The Lord of the Flies. Through these symbols, Golding is able to present the idea that human nature is, in fact, evil at heart. Golding uses fire as a symbol in more ways than one. Not only does fire represent safety and rescue, but it also represents destruction. Ralph is a character that uses fire in order to reach the outside world, saying “the fire’s the most important thin. Without the fire we can’t be rescued”. Jack, on the other hand, uses fire in order to dominate the weak. Towards the end of The Lord of the Flies, Jack uses fire as a way to capture Ralph and kill him. Even though fire is the reason the military comes and saves the boys, Golding uses it as both a necessity and a danger throughout the novel.

The glasses, as well as Piggy, represents the idea of knowledge and order. However, Jack is willing to kill for the glasses. When the boys are playing around and circling around Robert, he squeals in pain “Ow! Stop it! You’re hurting”! Jack cannot have fire unless he has the glasses, so Golding uses these two symbols to represent a greater idea: Jack, along with many humans, will go to extreme lengths to obtain power. When the glasses are stolen from Piggy, the sense of knowledge and order is also taken. While Piggy is very important to The Lord of the Flies, his glasses are perhaps what hold the most power on the