Describe incidents where the motif of Paradise vs. Hell is displayed in Lord of the Flies.

In Golding's novel, the island the boys land on is "a good island," even a Paradise, but the presence of the boys there contaminates it, making it a Hell. In chapter 1 the island is described as a scene of "enchantment," with a perfect swimming pool, pink granite, palm trees, and sandy beaches. During the first exploration of the island, Ralph surveys the island from the top of the mountain and says, "This belongs to...

In Golding's novel, the island the boys land on is "a good island," even a Paradise, but the presence of the boys there contaminates it, making it a Hell. In chapter 1 the island is described as a scene of "enchantment," with a perfect swimming pool, pink granite, palm trees, and sandy beaches. During the first exploration of the island, Ralph surveys the island from the top of the mountain and says, "This belongs to us," in a scene reminiscent of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. At the end of chapter 3, when Simon retreats into his private bower in the evening, the sounds, sights, and scents are those of a magnificent, magical paradise as the "candle-buds opened their wide white flowers glimmering under the light that pricked down from the first stars."

As idyllic as the setting is, it doesn't take long for the boys to turn it into a Hell. In their excitement to build a signal fire in chapter 2, the boys get carried away and make a towering inferno twenty feet high. This fire seems to burn itself out quickly, but while the boys are talking, sparks spread, and soon an entire section of the forest is alight, and within the flames, an unnamed boy with a birthmark perishes. As the fire burns out of control, the "tall swathes of creepers" look like snakes, a symbol of the devil who makes his home in Hell. This devastating fire is repeated at the end of the book when Jack and his tribe deliberately set fire to the island in an effort to smoke out Ralph, whom they intend to kill. Jack by then has become the embodiment of pure evil, presiding over a blazing Hell that reflects the uncontrolled savagery in his heart.