Lord of the Flies Group

Question:

lacie
lacie
Student
High School - 10th Grade

What is the symbolic role of the raging fire that kills the small boy in Lord of the Flies?

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Posted by lacie on Saturday August 4, 2007 at 12:09 PM and tagged with fire, lord of the flies, symbolism.

Answers:


  1. bmadnick Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Fire is a yardstick for measuring the savagery and loss of civilization of the boys. At the beginning, the signal fire represents the wish of the boys to return to society. The forest fire they set symbolizes the distance between the boys at the beginning of the story and the boys later in the book when they are further along their path of completely abandoning society and its rules of behavior. By the end of the book, the fire they set trying to capture Ralph represents their savagery and complete abandonment of civilization.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/flies

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    Posted by bmadnick on Saturday August 4, 2007 at 2:14 PM