Reading Response 2: The Fire

The fire begins as a rescue beacon for passing ships in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, but it soon turns into a weapon of destruction. Indeed, the boys are close to burning down the island the first time they light the fire, and they succeed in burning it to the ground at the end of the novel. Therefore, the fire is both a blessing and a curse to the boys as it is both a last hope and method of destruction. The boys make the fire their first priority when they first light it as, "Life became a race with the fire and the boys scattered through the upper forest. To keep a clean flag of flame flying on the mountain was the immediate end and no one looked further," (Golding, Lord of the Flies 41). Then Jack finds a better occupation. He learns to hunt and he allows hunting to consume him until he "[conveys] the compulsion to track down and kill that [which] was swallowing him up," (LOTF 51). Soon the fire is forgotten by all but Ralph and his small group.

The positive side of the fire is not only that it provides the boys with a signal for rescue, but it also provides them with courage and comfort when the 'beast' becomes a reality. It acts as a night light when they are scared as they would, "have a fire near them as a comfort in the night," (LOTF 143), and gives them a reason to keep their sanity as it is their only hope of rescue. However, some of the boys lose sight of this hope and fix their eyes instead on the 'beast.' Ralph realizes this when he rants, "Just an ordinary fire. you'd think we could do that, wouldn't you? Just a smoke signal so we can be rescued. Are we savages or what?" (LOTF 188). Then they begin to abuse the fire and use it for a symbol of power rather than a symbol of hope. They fight over this power when Jack steals their only method of making fire from Piggy; the glasses. With whom ever the glasses lie is who has the power. The conch, the rules and the common sense no longer matter to Jack when he has the glasses, only power matters.

It is true that the fire has the capability to make the boys feel power. It gives them an element of control until they abuse that power and the fire becomes more powerful than themselves. The pleasure this power brings to the boys makes them want more so that when they begin to hunt they feel power over something living. Controlling a living thing is much different than controlling the fire, and the prospect of such a power consumes Jack, making him want even more. This satisfaction is not only found in Jack though, it is exemplified in even the smallest of the boys as a littlun plays in the sand and finds 'transparencies' on the beach that he then tries to manipulate. "He became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things. He talked to them, urging them, ordering them," (LOTF 64), and though Jack finds his satisfaction through killing the pigs, this littlun shows the beginning of the contamination of power in his mind as well. Of course, this is at a point in the novel when the boys are the only hunters on the island. After they become the hunted, they then have the trouble of regaining control over the island and over the fire. They realize that if they do not have control over the fire, then they do not have control over their rescue or their survival on the island, making the 'beast' more powerful than themselves.

This, ultimately, is the true power of the fire, as it is another defence against the 'beast.' Similarly, it is one of the elements that gave us power during early human evolution and brought us out of savagery. Then, after the boys lose the fire, they return to savagery. Therefore, fire may play a larger role in the success of civilization today and our escape from savagery than it is given credit for. This does not mean, however, that we cannot return to savagery, as it happened to the children in the novel Lord of the Flies.