The Sign

Respond to this question: What is the “sign that came down from the world of grown-ups” and what could it symbolize?

The "sign that came down from the world of grown-ups" was a parachute and a body from the plane. I think this symbolizes the enormity of the situation being out of the boys' control and the deadliness of the situation. Death is obviously represented by the dead person, and the sheer sight of a dead body made the boys worry. This is when you think the boys' would realize that it is time to get down to business so we can survive, yet they didn't want to seem frightened, so they pretended there was nothing to fear. They also realized this was, even if they didn't want to admit it, just the beginning of bad things to come. This symbol, finally, represented the start of their journey on their own.The end of one thing is just the beginning of another, neither necessarily being good things. 165 The real question for the boys was, "Is this island going to be a good thing; will it change us for the better, or for the worse?"