Irony

In Chapter 12, the final chapter of Lord of the Flies, the savage group of boys make a fire to catch Ralph, their only enemy at this point. They catch the island on fire to enclose Ralph in their mutiny against him, their leader. This turns out to be very ironic as this is also what ends up saving Ralph and allowing what he stands for to come, civilization, to come back.

As the fire gives off smoke, a passing ship notices that there is activity on the island. A naval officer comes off and sees the boys coming after Ralph. He is in a lucky situation since in most every other situation he would be dead. This is a strong example of situational irony since out of the blue, the thing that should have killed the leader in a mutiny, saves him and the others left on the island.