The Litarary Use of Fire in Lord Of The Flies

Tristan Mills

Mr. Newman

ENG2O

3 December, 2011

The Literary Use Of Fire In Lord Of The Flies

Fire is a fickle thing. It can harm or heal, depending on how it's used as a tool. In Lord Of The Flies, fire is shown in different ways to reflect on the way the boys use fire and how it affects them. Through the use of fire, Golding develops the idea that tools only do things based on their users, whether the users intend to do something or not. In the novel, the three states of fire are: under control, out, and out of control, each one doing different things to reflect on the boys based on their actions and state of mind.

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When the fire is out of control the boys are either behaving rashly or savagely, leading the fire to go out of control. During the first incident with fire, the boys start a fire without thinking it through and Piggy says: "Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn't no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire. Won't we look funny if the whole island burns up?"(46). The boys were excited about a fire and ran off with Jack to start it. By behaving rashly they set a large part of the island on fire, killing the boy with the birthmark, if not more littluns. Right before the final chaos starts, Ralph notices that  "Smoke [is] seeping through the branches in white and yellow wisps, the patch of blue sky over head [began to turn] to the colour of a storm cloud, and then the smoke [billowing] around him"(216). Here the fire is getting started but from the tribe of boys, it is clear that the fire will soon be out of control due to their lack of care. Finally, near the end of the novel Ralph notices: "Now the fire was nearer... The fools! The fire must be almost be at the fruit trees - what would they eat tomorrow"(220). With the savage state the boys are in, the fire gets out of control on their hunt for Ralph. The fire and the boys are similar at this point in time because the boys lead the fire to be destructive. When the boys are in a state to let or make the fire get out of control it represents their inability to think properly so that they don't see that it is hindering them.