Similes In Lord Of The Flies

In the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the boys started a signal fire that became a larger fire, tearing the island apart. A group of British schoolboys was on a flight in order to escape the next world war. Their flight crashed onto an abandoned island and all the adults died, including the pilot. This left a group of young boys on an uninhabited island alone. The boys, not knowing what to do, voted to elect a “chief” of the island. Because the chief of the island was still a child, he did not know how to run an entire island on his own. This caused further problems, including a fire. The use of several literary devices, such as simile, imagery, and personification, help emphasize the idea that the boys on the island needed adults to help them survive.

As the fire began to spread faster and faster, causing the island to burn, it is noted that “One patch [of flames] touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel,” (44). Golding uses the simile of “scrambl[ing] up like a bright squirrel” to demonstrate how quickly the fire was spreading. The words “bright squirrel” serve to further emphasize how intense the fire is. Because the fire is moving so quickly, it would be hard for young boys to put it out on their own. By making this point, Golding is saying that the boys are unable to handle such chaos on their own, and need the help of adults to