The land scar is a key symbol in Lord of the Flies that foreshadows the future to come as a result of the boy’s intrusion upon the previously unperturbed island. The island is idolized as a paradise, and it is no mistake that the moment Ralph arrives already the island has been tainted seemingly as a result of brief human presence. "All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat" (Golding 9). The scar symbolizes the effect of humanity’s footprint on the natural environment. As the novel was authored following the second world war, it is likely a nod to the destruction caused by man-made weapons during the disruption.
