What does the naval officer symbolize in the story?

The naval officer symbolizes plenty of things: First, it
is a paternal figure which the boys desperately need. Second, it is a figure of
authority and salvation, which the kids are also desperately in need of. Third, it is
the first contact the boys have with the outside world. Fourth, it is a figure of
discipline, order, and organization- those are the very things that the boys lost when
they were left to their own devices. Fifth, he represents reality. Even the Naval
Officer himself was a bit grossed out at the state of the children, and the children did
not respond to him in a child-like or infantile way: Instead, everyone was shocked in
both sides, and that is the same way reality hits- shockingly at
times.

Finally, the naval officer represents salvation and
a return to humankind. The boys had been living in a semi primitive state. How
interesting that it is a NAVAL officer, one who commands the ocean (a very uncertain
element) appears to re-organize and save the boys. Yet, naval officers equally follow
nature's signs, and use objects to guide them through the most unreliable elements, and
make it. Therefore, the naval officer is the ultimate salvation to the
boys.