William Golding's Lord of the Flies

Though physically each cell in our body has been consistently replaced every seven years, psychologically, it took the proper English school boys less than a year in isolation to transform into dehumanized savages. Coinciding with their mental shift, their exploitation of certain tools also follows suit. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the motifs of fire, face paint, and clothing show how it is human nature to invest more power in the idealistically pleasing, than the morally correct.

The innocent, smoldering fire that began the day the boys first left the scar is in stark contrast to the horrors of a ravenous flame that ensued as a result of an uncontrolled lust for not solely blood, but for power. In the beginning, the motif of fire had a wholesome foundation. Chiefly through Ralph’s eyes does this become evident, as to the rest of the stranded boys he states: “There's another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire" (38). It is here that power is first imparted into the use of fire, and the authority that such a thing facilitates. Ralph’s understanding of the necessity of fire is found throughout Lord of the Flies. Persistently, Ralph tries to remind the boys as to why maintaining a steady column of smoke and fire should be their first priority. By insisting on maintaining the flames, rather than allowing himself the simple amusements such as hunting and sport, Ralph’s valuable foresight demonstrates his ability to bear patiently the drudgery of rescue. Eventually Ralph grows to be alone in his ideals of returning to society, as the idea of rescue becomes increasingly remote. The labor of sustaining a fire h...

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...nothing to hide, for his core was also found to be his nature as a human, but a human who had different ideals and desires.

In conclusion, Ralph’s resistance to the majority of the tribe’s trends document his moral integrity to defy the ravages of human nature. Perhaps his vision of rescue and returning back to civilization facilitated his desire to take a higher road. Without such visions or hope however, the tribe’s perverted use of fire, the illusion of anonymity afforded from the use of face paint, and the exploitation of image from clothing or nakedness, all document their declining sense of morality. Golding confirms that in the isolation of this island, when consequence is a remote possibility, the true nature humans is confirmed to yield to the influence of ideas that appeal and fulfill their desire, no matter the penalties that may result from such greed.