The Great Fire In the Lord of the flies by William Golding has many kinds of symbolism. The Conch shell is obvious, but there are many others that are just as important, such as the signal fire. In the book, the fire symbolizes signal, light, and warmth. If the boys did not have this fire there would not be many of them left. It keeps them pushing forward into surviving and not giving up. The first most important thing that the fire does in the book is, it makes a signal. The boys are stranded on this island with no one around. No adults, just them and a big island. Even though the boys are young, they are pretty smart and think of a way to get someone’s attention if they come close enough to them. The smoke or blaze of the fire would get someone’s attention. So the boys build a fire and this is their way of signaling someone or their only hope of getting rescued. “How many are we? And yet we can’t keep a fire going to make smoke. Don’t you understand? Can’t you see we ought to—ought to die before we let the fire out” (Golding 81)? The younger boys let the fire out and the older ones got on to them because they know it is the only way they can get rescued. Keeping the fire going is the only way. …show more content…
The boys are on a deserted island so of course they need light. When it gets dark, the fire is a good way to see through the night, and when the boys have to hunt at night the fire helps them see through the woods. Using the light also helps to keep off unwanted predators like the “beast”. Since the boys are so young the light from the fire helps them not get too scared at night. “The twins shared their identical laughter, then remember the darkness and other things and glanced round uneasily. The flames, busy about the tent, drew their eyes back in” (Golding 97). Having light helps the boys stay safe and helps them not be blind in the