As a result from this, the signal fire assumes the role of a barometer of the boys’ connection to civilization. In the beginning of the story, the fact that the boys maintain the fire is a sign that they want to be saved and go back into society. When the fire burns low or goes out, it’s noticeable that the boys have lost their hopes to be rescued and have accepted their wild lives on the island. The signal fire functions as a measurement of the strength of the civilized instinct remaining on the island. At the end of the novel, ironically, a fire finally brings a ship to the island, but not the signal fire.
In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the author uses the fire motif to convey that all uncontrolled situations inevitably lead to chaos. Jeannette was cooking hot dogs when she grabbed one with a fork, turned around, and bent over to feed it to her dog. Her dress was against the stove, and it caught on fire. She quickly realized and panicked. She “smelled the burning and heard a horrible crackling as the fire singed [her] hair and eyelashes” (9).
Ultimately, the fire is a symbol of barbarity and savagery because the fire causes more chaos than the order they already had. Golden describes the scene as, “life became a race
Jack takes his place and Ralph takes his. The boys are each trying to win over the other boys to join their different societies. Fire is the most important part of the novel; it represents hope. The boys start the fire in hopes to make enough smoke for someone passing by to notice they were there stuck on the island. Towards the beginning of the story, a plane passes over the island and the boys get excited about being rescued.
The fire is described as, “ The flame, nearly invisible at first in that bright sunlight, enveloped a small twig, grew, was enriched with color and reached up to a branch which exploded a sharp crack. The flame flapped higher and the boys broke into a cheer” (Golding 41). The boys are all really happy that they are able to get a flame going so they will not freeze that night and so they could cook for nights to come. All the boys are filled with hope that they would survive and that they would be able to leave the island safely. Their hope, unfortunately, would later on disappear.
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
Paul Revere shouted throughout his midnight ride, “The Regulars are coming!” He was an American Patriot in the American Revolution who lived in Boston at the time. His lifespan was from 1735 to 1818, during the American Revolution. One of his famous quotes was “In Medford, I awakened the Captain of the Minutemen; and after that, I alarmed almost every house, till I got to Lexington.” Paul Revere is important to history because if he didn't warn Lexington about the British, America itself might not be known as America.
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.
Fire represents many things as “ Fire symbolizes life, continuity and vitality.” (Mbiti 180) As the story moves on, the element of fire becomes more and more destructive due to the violence and conflict that disrupts nature peaceful state. An example of fire showing its destructive nature is when the Germans attacked Robert and his troops as “Fire storms raged along the front. Men were exploded where they stood–--blown apart by the combustion”(Findley 132).
The fire is the only clear source of light that they get in the book. Earlier in The Road the man describes the morning sun as still gray and gloomy. Having fire be the only source of bright light, and the place where the boy gets stories of the past, that is the only time the man and the boy get a little bit of hope in the
Consequently, cooking on open fires and using candles to light their homes, for this purpose they stacked wood up for their stoves and stored tallow for their candles. In addition, tradesmen used large ovens, therefore keeping supplies of fuel in their houses as well as the many inns had stables attached therefore filled with fodder and straw. “Fire is never a gentle master”(Proverb) Indeed, their lifestyle played a hand in the destruction. However, there were other reasons why the fire raged out of control.
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.
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.
Fire was used to represent Wright’s development educationally when Richard begs for Granny's house guest, Ella, to read to him. Richard says “my imagination blazed” (Wright 39). In this context the word has much meaning about Richard’s yearning passion for reading. This shows that Richard has a desire for learning and reading and once, and even after Richards Granny had told him he could not read in the house again, he vows to read as many books as he could when he got older.
“Wow,” was the only expression that Neil and Gabe could select to state their excitement when they arrived at the beautiful pastel yellow sanded beaches of Fire Island. For Neil, it would be his first trip to any ocean, and there was some concealed fear tucked away, but he was geared up to challenge it. Roger Vreeland, a friend of the Turner’s let them use his stilted edge-of-the-water getaway. This was like no other house the boy’s had seen before. They’d seen pictures from far off places of such raised houses.
