chapter 12

Just as Ralph decides to find a new hiding place, he smells smoke. He realizes with horror that Jack has set the forest on fire in an attempt to smoke Ralph out of hiding. He also recognizes that the fire will destroy all the fruit on the island, again endangering the boys' basic survival.

The irony of the fire is that it supplies the smoke signal that the Navy men see. Their destruction was their rescue.

The horror of this is that our world does not have anyone to rescue us from our own destruction.