Lord Of The Flies Fire Quotes

At first, the boys,
under the direction of , attempt to light a fire as a signal to passing ships. Here is the
description of their attempt from Chapter 2:

"On one side the air was cool, but on the other the fire thrust out a savage arm
of heat that crinkled hair on the instant. Boys who felt the evening wind on their damp faces
paused to enjoy the freshness of it and then found they were exhausted. They flung themselves
down in the shadows that lay among the shattered rocks. The beard of flame diminished quickly;
then the pile fell inwards with a soft, cindery sound, and sent a great tree of sparks upwards
that leaned away and drifted downwind. The boys lay, panting like dogs."

Their attempt to keep the fire going and to generate smoke is
fruitless, as they find it's impossible to keep the fire burning at that level of intensity.
They are quickly exhausted from the effort, but they try to keep the fire going in the
increasingly vain hope of rescue. 

notices that the fire has burnt out of
control. The author describes the raging fire in the following way:

"Smoke was rising here and there among the creepers
that festooned the dead or dying trees. As they watched, a flash of fire appeared at the root of
one wisp, and then the smoke thickened. Small flames stirred at the trunk of a tree and crawled
away through leaves and brushwood, dividing and increasing. One patch touched a tree trunk and
scrambled up like a bright squirrel. The smoke increased, sifted, rolled outwards. The squirrel
leapt on the wings of the wind and clung to another standing tree, eating downwards. Beneath the
dark canopy of leaves and smoke the fire laid hold on the forest and began to gnaw. Acres of
black and yellow smoke rolled steadily toward the sea. At the sight of the flames and the
irresistible course of the fire, the boys broke into shrill, excited cheering."

The fire at first seems to rally the boys to action, but, as Piggy
notes, the fire is out of control and is consuming all their firewood. They have spent
themselves with the first effort to try to be rescued, and their misspent energies do not bode
well for their chances at rescue.

Ralph continues to try to keep the fire
burning, even asand his followers branch off into a rival band of hunters. Ralph tells the
little boys who still follow him:

"'The fire's the
most important thing. Without the fire we can't be rescued. I'd like to put on war-paint and be
a savage. But we must keep the fire burning. The fire's the most important thing on the island,
because, because--'He paused again and the silence became full of doubt and wonder. Piggy
whispered urgently. 'Rescue.'"

Notably, Ralph can't
even remember the reason he is keeping the fire burning, and the boys eventually let the fire
burn out when a ship is passing. Ralph says, "If I blow the conch and they don't come back;
then we've had it. We shan't keep the fire going. We'll be like animals. We'll never be
rescued." The fire and the conch are the boys' connection to rescue and to civilization.
When the fire burns out, it's a symbol that they no longer care about being rescued and have
descended into brutality and chaos.