American writer Dave Roman once said, "Our inner fire is the spark of hope that drives us through even the darkest times." This statement represents how we must keep our internal fire bright and strong to overcome obstacles. In the book, the boys endure severe challenges but must stay motivated to survive. Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding  about a group of young school boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. The boys must learn to adapt to their new environment and survive to return home. As time passes on the island, the boys' hope of being rescued, they start to let go of their ultimate goal of being saved and accept their fate. This is best represented by the signal file.  The strength of the signal fire represents the boy's hope and how it constantly changes.

At the story's beginning, the fire is lit and stays bright as the boy's primary goal is to get rescued. They believe that if they start a signal fire, someone will be able to see the smoke and rescue them. When Ralph discusses possible ways to get rescued with Piggy, he mentions, "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 smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire." Making this fire brings them to hope that someone will come and see the fire they lit. They are sure that people will see it and are confident they will be rescued as soon as possible. The boys know that "Any day there may be a ship out there"..." and if we have a signal going they'll come and take us off." With ongoing hope that they will become rescued, they stay open-minded and maintain a  positive point of view. By being open-minded, it is easier to perform  recurring tasks helping the development of the fire.

After time on the island, the fire starts to give out, the boys begin to let go of their hope of being saved. Their attention starts to wander off into pursuing other activities. Jack is primarily interested in hunting, as he believes there is no possibility of being rescued and that they will need food while they are on the island. However, Ralph remains positive that they will be  saved, even though the other boys disagree. Ralph says, "'The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make? Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can't keep a fire going to make smoke. Don't you understand? Can't you see we ought to ought to die before we let the fire die.”  Ralph does not understand how the boys can be slacking off so much, as he is one of the only boys who still has hope in being rescued. He refuses to give up this hope of eventually being saved. Piggy agrees with Ralph and suggests a way to have the fire still burn, but it will require less effort to keep it listed. Piggy suggested moving the fire down to the lagoon since "The wood was not as dry as the fuel they had used on the mountain. Much of it was damply rotten and full of insects that scurried; logs had to be lifted from the soil with care, or they crumbled into sodden powder." The Hunters gave up on the signal fire and are climbing the mountain. Moving it to the lagoon requires less work for the boys, but the fire will not serve its purpose as it is harder to start and almost impossible to see. This is symbolic because it shows how the boys lose their connection to civilization, and savagery takes over them. 

After a while, the boys let the fire die as most of them have lost hope of being rescued, because they spend their days only hunting. The boys want to live worry-free without putting in work to be saved. They forget about being rescued and focus on having a good time. When Raph returns to the camp, he is disappointed when he realizes that "They let the bloody fire go out." Ralph has previously been very persistent about the success of the fire, and knowing that the rest of the boys do not feel the same way makes him understand that the likelihood of being rescued is decreasing. The boys would rather spend their days wasting time and hunting than being mature and working to be saved. They decided they have had enough of Ralph and want him gone. When hearing this, Ralph says, "But I've done nothing, I only wanted to keep a fire." Ralph does not understand why the boys chose savagery instead of simply having the hope of being rescued. Now the fire is gone, and so is their hope. They know there is no way to be saved without a signal, and they have accepted it. 

The signal fire shows the boy's hope of rescue throughout the story. In the beginning, it is strong, as most of the boys are making an  effort to keep the fire lit. As the story continues, the boys lose their motivation and are often caught slacking off instead of doing their assigned tasks. By the end of the story, the boys are too preoccupied with hunting to even care about their futures on the island. The boys do not understand the importance of the fire, as they are only young children. Being so young shows they do not understand what it takes to survive and be rescued. Throughout the story, the fire's state represents the boy’s hope of being rescued.