What Does The Fire Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

In Lord of the Flies, the signal fire symbolizes the boys’ desire to be rescued, their humanity, and their resistance of savagery. At first, all the boys agree the fire is important and pitch in to help. But in time, the fire dwindles, and the boys lose their desire to be rescued and stay civilized succumb to becoming completely savage. Things start to go south on the island, and the boys start to become savage the first time they neglect the fire. The first time they neglect the fire is when Jack and most of the other biguns go hunting and let the fire go out. “‘There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out… they might have seen us. We might have gone home--”... One of the smaller hunters began to wail.

The boys, especially Jack, seem more embarrassed than remorseful about letting the fire go out. The fact that they easily rushed away from the fire to hunt shows that their priorities are changing, because in the beginning the fire and other safety issues were their number one priority. This shows their loss of desire to get back to civilization and resist their descent into savagery. The fire eventually goes out completely, and it happens in a display of savagery and loss of humanity and decency. Jack’s tribe comes and attacks Ralph’s crew, putting out the signal fire to light their own cooking fire, and also stealing Piggy’s glasses. “Then there was a vicious snarling in the mouth of the shelter and the plunge and the thump of living things… Ralph hit out; then he and over what seemed like dozens of others , rolling over and hitting, biting, scratching… ‘They’ve got our fire! They stole it’” (pages 167 and 169). It’s clear how savage they have become through this violent behavior. Verbs like hitting, biting, and scratching really highlight how savage they’ve become. The signal fire goes out for good, symbolizing the death of all reason and goodness, and a new cooking fire lights, symbolizing the birth of a new savage