Golding's Lord Of The Flies Conch Essay

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys of all ages who crash land on an uninhabited island. Throughout the story we see how these boys live out their lives. Early in the story they find a beautiful shell. In the novel, the conch is a powerful and effective symbol for democracy. One of the ways in which Golding shows us that the conch is a commanding presence that represents democracy is that the boys make a rule that whoever is holding the conch has a right to speak. While at the first assembly Ralph decides that it would be too chaotic for everyone to talk at once, so he helps create the “rule of the conch.”
“‘And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.’
He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth.
‘Then I’ll give him the conch.’
‘Conch?’
‘That’s what this shell’s called. I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”’ (Golding 32).

Plainly displayed in this passage is the power the conch has been given, both on a real and symbolic level. The boys realize that they can’t have chaos and

As Ralph first picks up the conch Piggy tell Ralph that he could use the conch to help gather the others. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—” (Golding 15). Here we obviously see how much power the conch posses. Gathering all people together so they can share their ideas and view, debate and vote is a fundamental part of modern day democracy. Ralph does just this by simply blowing the conch. In society this same thing is done with nearly the same intentions. The Senate and House of Representatives are both called together to discuss important matters and issues at hand. As a result, the conch is fulfilling its image of a democratic