What Does The Fire Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

In both Lord of the Flies and Animus there are strong symbols for the character's connections to civilization. In Lord of the Flies, a book by William Golding, there are approximately 50 boys stranded on a deserted island with no adults. These boys decide to make a bonfire to signal passing ships in hopes of being rescued. In Animus, a book by Antoine Revoy, there is a spirit boy named Toothless who is bound to a playground and cannot leave. He recruits two school children, Hisao and Sayuri, to help him escape the playground so that he can go into the spirit world. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the bonfire as a symbol to connect the boys to civilization; while in Animus, Revoy uses the playground to connect Toothless to civilization.

The leader of the boys, Ralph, makes this fire his top priority and the first thing that he orders the children to do when they arrive on the island. Ralph states many times throughout the book, “‘The fire’s the most important thing. Without the fire we can’t be rescued. I’d like to put on war-paint and be a savage. But we must keep the fire burning. The fire’s the most important thing on the island because’ … ‘Rescue.’” (Golding 145) When Jack and his tribe break away from the rest of the group, Ralph and his friends are in danger of being killed yet Ralph still continues to show concern for the fire. This symbolizes Ralph’s dedication to the fire. His constant thought about it shows how strongly he is connected to civilization and how much he wants to leave the island. Golding uses the fire and the character’s feelings about it to symbolize each of their connections to civilization. By letting the fire go out in order to hunt, Jack shows his unconcerned attitude towards the fire which symbolizes his detachment from civilization. Altogether, the fire represents the boys’ connection to civilization because it is their ticket to getting

Toothless never specifically states that the jungle is why he is stuck, but he implies it through his conversations with the children. After he explains what all of the other equipment on the playground does, he is hanging on this jungle gym and says “As for this jungle gym … well … you don’t wanna know what this one does. … I can’t leave this world. I was taken from my home. Loooong ago. Taken. And buried alive. I can’t go into the afterworld unless I am found and released into the open air.” (Revoy 62-63) Toothless avoids telling the children what the jungle gym does, but he does talk about how he is stuck in their world at the playground which leads to the assumption that the jungle gym is the reason he is trapped. The playground connects him to civilization because it is the reason why he is stuck on earth and restricted from moving on to the spirit world. He is trapped until the children can find a way to free him and therefore he has a strong connection with civilization through the jungle gym which keeps him