Symbolism Of Ralph In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, took place on an isolated tropical island. There were many symbolic items within the story, and their meanings changed as the story developed. The fire was the symbol of hope and civilization at the beginning of the novel, but at the end it had become a fire of destruction. Ralph, in the beginning of the book, stood for leadership and almost perfection, however as the story progresses, he was nothing more than a normal human. The beast, upon its first appearance, symbolized fear, but soon, it represented the savagery within them. The different symbolic figures within the book, such as the fire, Ralph, and the beast, shifted in meaning as the story develops.

The fire symbolized the hope of rescue

and civilization, but at the end, it had turned into destruction. At the beginning of the novel, the kids eagerly went up to the mountain to light the fire. It was their only hope of rescue. Besides hoping that ships or planes could see the smoke of the fire, there was no other method for them to get off this island. Also, the fire also provides much more than simply the hope for rescue. It gave them warmth and light. These benefits of the fire, and the simple fact that in the beginning they were hoping to be rescued, showed the civilized parts of the boys. However, in the end, the fire had turned into one of savagery and destruction. After reaching the hunters at Castle Rock, Ralph had shouted at Jack, “‘Look at that! Call that a signal fire? That’s a cooking fire. Now you’ll eat and there’ll be no smoke. Don’t you understand? There may be a ship out there-’”(Golding 178). Jack had stolen Piggy’s glasses with the sole intent of cooking the pigs he hunted down, and the purpose of getting rescued was totally forgotten. Also, at the very end, filled with overwhelming savagery that blocked out any common sense, the hunters had set the entire forest on fire in desperation to hunt down Ralph, their prey. The destruction of forest meant shortage of food supply and lack of wood, which would have been detrimental to their survival chances. However, in that moment of the hunt, they could care less about those things. Rather than the warm and hopeful fire of before, the fire had become one of destruction and savagery.
Ralph was at first the leader figure within the book, he was seen as someone who held authority over the rest of the kids.

However, at the end of the book, he simply stood for a common human being. In the beginning of the story, before a formal introduction, Ralph was described simply as “a fair boy.” This already sets him out in a favorable light. Then it further describes how he is apparently good-looking and has the natural air of leadership. Of course, the conch played a big role when the kids voted him for leader, but his appearance played a large role as well. For the good first part of the book, Ralph has always symbolized leadership. As the story progresses and the kids became more and more distant from the idea of civilization, Ralph became more like a representation of common sense. Golding wrote, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” At this part, Ralph criticized Jack for not doing the necessary civilized things in favor of quenching his thirst for a hunt. As more and more of the kids become more and more uncivilized, Ralph became one of the last voices of common sense. When Simon and Piggy died, Ralph was the last one who retained that common sense and yearned for civilization. He had no leadership powers left anymore, and he stood for nothing more than a

common human being.
When the idea of a “beast” first appeared, it represented fear as that was what it had brought to the boys.

Beforehand, everything was all fun and games on the island, and Piggy was the only one that actually worried about anything. However, the idea of the beast brought fear to them again and again. Whether it was when it was first mentioned as a snake, or when it was thought to come from the sea, or when it was guessed to be ghosts, the idea of something being there at the island made the boys afraid even though there was no actual evidence of the beast. Golding wrote, “‘He says in the morning it turned into them things like ropes in the trees and hung in the branches. He say will it come back tonight?’ ‘But there isn’t a beastie!’ There was no laughter at all now and more grave watching.’” At the idea there there was some sort of mysterious fearsome monster that might come after the boys, the previously joyous atmosphere quickly bursted as fear settles on them. Though the beast only symbolized fear in the beginning, by the latter parts of the novel, it had become a representation of the savagery within a human. Simon was the first one to notice, at how he pointed out how maybe the beast lived within themselves. Also, Jack’s bloody offering to the beast, the sow’s head, represented how the darkness has taken over the hunters. Their belief in the beast strength as their savagery increased, it was almost as if they worshipped it, leaving offerings and such. Also, the Lord

of the Flies, who spoke to Simon and was a representation of the beast, claimed that the beast was not something “you could hunt or kill.” Simon was previously mentioned to have said that the beast lived within themselves. This further supports that.
Through this story of boys falling into savagery and hunting down each other, many things shifted in meaning. The once good and warm fire that held hope for rescue had been ruined to a fire of savagery that destroyed all. Ralph who once symbolized leadership and order along with the conch of his had been reduced to nothing more than a common human being. The beast who had once stood for fear among the boys was now something that symbolized the darkness within themselves. Many symbolic items in the story changed in meaning as the story develops, especially the fire, Ralph, and the beast.