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Conch Symbolism In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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Conch Symbolism Lord of the Flies: Power and Order Our society today is being held together by order. Take the order away, and there is a jumbled mix of chaos and broken structure. Every society needs some type of order, whether it’s a government or police force, a well-bounded society thrives off of togetherness. The conch is what holds order on the island with this group of boys. Somewhat resembling the act of raising hands in school, this white and pink shell is what tried to hold the order among the boys. Piggy found the conch originally, “S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it” (11). From then on, if someone wanted to speak, they had to have the shell. But, when rules are broken, …show more content…

If the person of power decides to construct, things tend to go a lot smoother. Ordered tasks are completed, and a common standard of respect is kept. This is the route Ralph took when he was given the chance to be leader. He used the conch in good ways, giving people a chance to talk when necessary. When he was elected chief, he immediately got to work. “Listen, everybody. I’ve got to have time to think things out. I can’t decide what to do straight off. If this isn’t an island we might be rescued straight away. So we’ve got to decide if this is an island (28). He used the conch in the best ways possible, which lead for a democracy-like system to be created. On the other hand, a leader or person of power also has the ability to manipulate. This can be achieved by using the aspect of fear, and usually leads to societal destruction. This is how most people would describe Jack as a leader. He made it obvious that the conch was nothing but a waste of time, and he didn't want to respect the rules around it. Whenever Piggy held the conch to speak, he said something along the lines of, “I got the conch,” said Piggy indignantly. “You let me speak!” “The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain,” said Jack, “so you shut up” (58). In this situation, Jack was not only breaking the rules of the conch, he was also making up his own rules around it. Jack made it clear that he had no respect for the rules, the conch, or the people of the island at this point in the

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