How Is Hope Shown In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a story of boys stranded on an island left to fend for themselves. The boys’ social structure eventually turns to chaos after them being on the island for an extended period of time. Throughout the story there are constant examples of hope, often related to chaos. Through Lord of the Flies, Golding teaches us that the presence of hope inspires chaos, which in turn feeds hope.

Through Lord of the Flies, Golding teaches us that chaos can feed into the hope that created it. “‘He’s a commander in the Navy. When he gets leave he’ll come rescue us.’” From the start of the book, Ralph hopes for a ship from the war will come and save them. The act of chaos outside of the island brought hope to the boys’ minds. “...the roar of the forest rose to a thunder… the fire racing toward like a tide.” (pg. 199) Towards the end of the book, the forest is set on fire in attempt to find and kill Ralph. This persuit creates the biggest signal fire seen and

“‘We can help them find us… We must make a fire.’” (pg 38) At the beginning of the book, Ralph has an idea to create a signal fire hoping to be found which is maintained all through the book and is seldom let out. Throughout the story, Ralph becomes more and more caring for this symbol of hope, and the boys progressively are plunged further and further into chaos. “We’ve got to relight that fire. You never thought of that, Jack, did you?” (pg 102) Here, the signal fire sparked and argument between Jack and Ralph and later led to them dividing. This is interesting because Lord of the Flies parallels a book called The Coral Island where the boys don’t focus on being rescued, but their society remains intact. In The Coral Island there is no signal fire, there is no hope, and that strangely brings tranquillity; while in Lord of the Flies, the boy’s society is brought down because of this