Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis

Register to read the introduction… “‘If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us…We must make a fire.’…At once half the boys were on their feet.” (Golding 37). When the first fire is lit, the boys are all caught up in the excitement of starting a fire and potentially being rescued, and the fire soon grows out of their control. The fire is frequently brought up by Ralph, whose main objective is to be rescued from the island. Later on, even Ralph begins to let the fire slip from his mind. “He tried to remember…he turned on the twins fiercely. ‘I said ‘smoke!’ We’ve got to have smoke…’” (Golding, 191-192). After saying this Ralph trails off, and Piggy is forced to complete his speech for him, continuing the now familiar reasoning for keeping the fire going. Ralph interprets this as an insinuation that he has forgotten why they need the fire and insists that he hasn’t, but the readers know that this is untrue. The prospect of being rescued is beginning to seem so implausible that Ralph begins to forget the reasoning behind the signal fire, despite his constant reminding the others, and it takes Piggy to refresh his memory. The fire also represents the boys’ connection to civilization. During the times they are most distant from their original rules and agreements, i.e. hunting trips, the fire is unlit. These are the times they have been distracted from thoughts of …show more content…
Although it doesn’t appear until later on, it becomes one of the main themes in the novel. It is a representation of the Biblical entrance of sin into the Garden of Eden. Before Jack places it there, the clearing was Simon’s space to think on his own, away from the increasing savagery of the other boys. “…” (Golding ). Jack’s gory kill disturbs that peace which Simon valued so much and it ultimately marks the final descent of the island into total savagery, just as Eve introducing sin into the Garden is what causes the downfall of humans. Additionally, he name “Lord of the Flies” translates to Beelzebub, which is another name for the devil. The Lord of the Flies is also a symbol of the primal instinct of humans to know what is right and deliberately do wrong, and of the natural fear of that ability. “‘And I’m the Beast…Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?’” (Golding ). The boys had spent much of their time focused on the Beast, a concept introduced near the beginning of the novel. The child who mentions it first doesn’t actually see a Beast in the forest, but subconsciously recognizes the presence of evil on the island, unknowing that the evil is themselves. Simon, in his delirium, imagines a conversation with the Beast, mentally assigning