ipl-logo

Lord Of The Flies Fire Symbolism Essay

1077 Words5 Pages

Government organizations often use symbols to portray their power or military strength. Writers also use symbols to convey a message to the reader. In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbols to help readers track the loss of civility of the boys. The fire is both a symbol of hope and the reckless behavior of the boys. The first fire is built to signal ships for their rescue; it symbolizes hope here. Once the fire is burning brightly, the boys “paused to enjoy the freshness of [the fire]... they flung themselves down in the shadows that lay among the shattered rocks,” (41). The fire comforts the young island inhabitants because it lets them relax with the hope of getting rescued. The boys on the island start to lose hope, even Ralph. Ralph tells Piggy “let the fire go then, for tonight,” (164), showing that he has stopped caring about getting home. 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. He swung to the right, running desperately fast… what could [the other boys …show more content…

While authors use symbols in their novels to help convey a message to their readers, people and organizations do the same in society today. Big organizations like the government try to portray their power and military strength, though sometimes they are just trying to portray a false sense of

Show More
Related
355 Words | 2 Pages

Why do authors use symbolism in their writing? Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas. They also an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly ; allusion. Allusions can be another form of symbolism from time to time. We can find examples of these two in The Lottery ,Harrison Bergeron and 2 B R 0 2 B .

Read More
439 Words | 2 Pages

Symbols are everywhere. Readers see symbols in all kinds of literary works. Symbols are used to represent ideas and concepts in literary works. Authors use symbols to help the readers understand themes. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the theme present is that societies need some kind of social order to live in peace.

Read More
1287 Words | 6 Pages

Anything in a novel can be represented as a symbol. Symbols are a representation of an item through an abstract concept. Surprisingly, a Union Stockyard could also be a symbol; The fictional Packingtown reveals many attributes about the real life Packingtown in the course of The Jungle. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, Sinclair uses Packingtown to symbolize the corrupt government, the working class, and the condition of the United States.

Read More
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.

Read More
406 Words | 2 Pages

Realizing Ralph's reliance on the fire and in otherways Piggy, Piggy begins to trust Ralph to protect him from Jack. His insecurities cause him to obsess over the idea of the fire to show that he does have some importance, while the savages are focused on power and hunting. Golding uses the struggle of power to demonstrate how destructive it can be. The desire for power causes the boys' civilization the crumble, discord and rivalries, and ends up destroying their island.

Read More
476 Words | 2 Pages

A symbol, a word by definition means, a material object representing something immaterial. The character Jack Merridew, in Lord of The Flies symbolizes chaos, insanity, and ego. In Lord of The Flies Jack Merridew symbolizes chaos by demanding, “’ We want meat’” (51).

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

At first the fire was used as a signal in order to try and save the boys, making it a tool for success to return them to the normal world. Ralph proclaims “We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us.” (Golding). Furthermore, in the novel, the fire becomes a source of comfort for the boys, providing them with warmth and usefulness as a source of light and method to cook food.

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and "The Roaring '20s" by Kenn Allan both utilize imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing to depict what living in 1920's America was like. All of these devices are used to set mood, tone, pace, and setting within their stories. The Roaring '20s is always less wordy than the Great Gatsby, but gets the point across just as well. Imagery is a literary device that is used in both the Great Gatsby and the Roaring '20s to portray mood and setting, as well as create an idea of what living in the '20s was like. In The Great Gatsby's case, the imagery creates an elaborate description of the scene, so the reader knows exactly what they are to be imagining.

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

Following Jack’s raid of Ralph’s camp, Ralph says, “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make?” Ralph’s emphasis on the importance

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

Ralph’s meaning of power is unique to that of Jack, Piggy, and the littluns, hence his escape from the island’s corruption despite the deaths of Piggy & Simon. His initial desire to start the fire is a representation of maintaining hope, ironically because the fire, which was created by Jack, allowed for their survival. Therefore, Jack’s attempt to defeat Ralph’s characteristic of integrity managed to only find the success of Ralph. It is evident that because of his strength, Ralph is

Read More
1186 Words | 5 Pages

N. Scott Momaday is a Kiowa novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He devotes his life to protect and inherit the national culture heritage, and has published a large number of Indian literature with fresh content, unique style and light homesickness. Among his numerous literary works, the early published work The Way to Rainy Mountain belongs to a prose with beautiful style of writing and sincere affection. The way to Rainy Mountain is a Momaday’s journey to seek his root. He skillfully combines the life of his grandmother and the history of the people together, with a unique perspective, rich poetic language, delicate emotions to show readers the origin, development and decline of the culture of Indian 's Kiowa people.

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

Ralph says, “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make” (80). As an effort to show the boys their dire circumstances, he tries to convict them, including himself, of their ignorance. On the contrary, Jack Merridew counters Ralph’s authority with the proposition of thrill and amusement.

Read More
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.

Read More
494 Words | 2 Pages

I remember when I was about ten, in the fifth grade, I came home one evening bored and started playing with paper. Paper that I eventually set on fire, that eventually set my trash can on fire, scared me to death, and got my butt whipped. In the book Black Boy by Richard Wright, Wright has many central messages and themes. One major motif was fire and its metaphors and uses in the book. Wright utilized fire to show his development educationally, religiously, and psychologically.

Read More
1100 Words | 5 Pages

Symbolism in general is the building blocks to all sources of literature and can shape a piece of writing in many ways. Symbols in general can portray what something or someone represents, giving a deeper and metaphorical meaning to a symbol. Symbolism is often used within poetry, literature, music, or even art. This is how an author conveys a different meaning to the audience. For example artists may use the color “red” not only because of the color theory, but to convey love, passion, and maybe even health.

Read More

More about Lord Of The Flies Fire Symbolism Essay

Related Topics

Open Document