Throughout this novel, "The Lord of the Flies", fire serves many functions both real and symbolic. Fire was a form of wealth and power; it represented maturity and responsibility and was the one thing which all the boys had in common. When reflecting apon this novel it is imperitive to witness how important a role fire actually plays.
One of the things that fire represented in this novel was that it could be considered a form of wealth and power. Of the boys, those that were considered important and dominant were the ones who controlled the fire. In turn, those who controlled the fire were followed by the others, so fire could also represent leadership. Many times jealousy reared its head over there fire; something quite common in our society in terms of money, so that demonstrates how fire could be viewed as a form of wealth. It's something of immense value, so muc
Keeping the fire going was a common goal amongst the boys and they all worked together to see that it would be done. They all needed fire for basic survival and its importance was well known among them all. Despite whomever had control of the fire, the rest of the boys follwed them, so thusly this determined temporary leadership on the island.
Despite their age, the boys knew the importance of fire and how essential it was for their survival. Jack showed both responsibility and leadership qualities when he said,
h in fact that if necessary one would kill to obtain it. Control over the fire was a key issue however fire could not always be controlled. In fact at times it showed its incredibly wild nature and caused mass destruction on the island.
"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-" (pg. 76-77).
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