Lord Of The Flies Fire Analysis

In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, multiple elements, such as fire, water, earth, and air, affect the boys. Multiple British boys, spanning the ages of six to twelve, survive a plane crash and are stranded on an island with no adults. During their time on the island, each element impacts the boys on a different level, and fire has the greatest impact. Although the elements water, air, and earth have effects on the boys’ lives, Golding uses imagery to suggest that fire has the largest impact on the boys’ lives, due to the fact that it is both the most essential item for survival and that it affects all the positive and negative things that happens on the island. Throughout the book, the main contribution of air is increasing the size of the fire, while fire of any size will help the survival of the boys. At the very beginning, right when the kids arrive on the island, Ralph suggests the need of a fire. Everyone agreed that the fire was an essential to survival, so the kids blew on a spark, “Jack knelt too and blew gently” (41). The main significance of air is to create the fire from a spark. Air is nothing without some sort of fire, because all it is is breath, which is useless to the survival of the boys. After suggesting the fact that they need a fire, Ralph explains the importance of the fire. He states,“they might notice us, so we must make smoke…” (38) Fire can used for rescue. A spark also can be used for rescue because it will create smoke too, thus making air have a