Jack, The Hero.

"'We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?'"
( Golding 201 ) 

The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding has a ironic ending. The quote to the left was said by a naval officer at end of Chapter 12. During this part of the book, Ralph has been trying to outrun a fire that Jack started, wishing it would kill Ralph in the forest. Luckily, Ralph is quick enough to escape and run into the naval officer who seen the smoke, as the fire consumed most of the island. I chose this quote because the irony is too good to be ignored. It's almost comical. 

Analysis: Fire through out this book is both an enormous motif and symbol. Fire was the start of civilization, which cavemen discovered, and has been Ralph's mission to motivate the boys to keep a fire going but constantly he failed. Jack, who did not care for the fire at all, is the character who started the fire that actually was large enough to be seen from a distance. Jack, or in other words savagery, is the reason why Ralph gets rescued. The ironic twist underlines the never ending cycle of civility fighting savagery.