Lord Of The Flies Conch Symbolism

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an influential novel which reveals the darkness of mankind and evil inside of all humans. Lord of the Flies is set in the early 20th century, during a time when Europe is under attack and surrounded by war. For this reason, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is flown away from the chaos in hopes of bringing the boys to safety. Suddenly, the airliner is mistaken for a military aircraft and taken down. After all of the pandemonium the boys soon realize that they are the only survivors. Now stranded on an unknown island, the boys must govern themselves. Soon the burning desire for power overthrows their civilized approach of leadership as a deciding factor tears the boys apart. Golding effectively uses the symbolism of the conch, the beast, and painted faces to reinforce the theme of how difficult situations reveal the demons inside of everyone. Together these symbols are applied in order to lead the reader to the suspenseful end.

The conch was described as magical, shining and beautiful in the story, now the way it is being described emphasizes how it's lost its power.

In William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, the reader comprehends symbols that go throughout the book. These symbols are key factors which determine the importance of the novel. The symbols are a very important part of the literary content. In order to really follow along and understand the story, the reader must understand these symbols for what they mean as well as how they are used. Some of the symbols include the conch, the island itself, and fire. Two of the main characters, Jack and Simon, represent other figures.

Although this might have seemed like such a little thing to worry about, this caused Jack to feel like he was finally filling up his eagerness for power. As the book went on, he started to become more animalistic. One quote that revealed his feelings towards the conch was when it was destroyed. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist”(181). Even though Roger was the one who killed Piggy, his death was intentional. From the book, it can be inferred that the boys in Jack’s tribe, including himself, had all agreed, or forced to agree, to kill Piggy. Jack didn’t think of the conch as anything special with meaning anymore. When the conch was smashed into pieces, so was any little hope of civilization. Jack had finally gotten the power that he desperately desired by getting rid of the conch. Despite the fact that Jack didn’t want the conch around anymore, it was still an important factor that helped him reach to the top and eventually rule all of the boys, with or without their

Throughout history and literature, symbols have been used to represent the bigger picture or main ideas. This allows the reader to illustrate the symbol in their head and have a much better overall understanding of the book. A number of times during Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he uses symbols to illustrate the boys’ destruction and fall from order into savagery. The regression of the boys’ civilization is evident through Golding’s symbolic use of the conch shell, the signal fire and the beastie. All are critical for expressing Golding’s overall message.

Ralph never acknowledges that Piggy was the first to point out the conch shell and explained to Ralph what it was. Ralph, instead of giving credit to Piggy for the idea of the conch shell, blows through the conch and then takes charge. Ralph begins giving orders and proceeds to take on the role of chief. Ralph’s authority was made possible because “there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” (22). The conch shell plays a big part in Ralph’s authority and order. His leadership skills, along with the conch by his side, is what made the other kids on the island listen and idolize him. Golding glorifies the power of Ralph and his conch shell in order to represent control, which is important to the ongoing order and regulation of the boys throughout their time on the island. Without the shell, there would be no order among the lives of the boys on the uninhabited island. In addition to Ralph promoting the power of the conch, Jack also agrees and emphasizes that in order to run a society, there must be a strong and rational set of rules that needs to be followed. When the boys made a fire with Piggy’s specs,

Readers know that Jack, who represents brutality and the hunger for power, is constantly trying to overthrow Ralph for his position as leader. However, even Jack respects the conch at first, though it represents the exact opposite of his character. Simon is the only person that symbolizes true purity and goodness. He is only one who understands that the island is changing them and that their fear of the beast will eventually cause them to develop into beasts themselves. The conch, much like Simon, represents morality and harmony. When Jack and his hunters relentlessly kill him it is the first time readers truthfully see evil overpower good. Now that the once Christ-figure is dead their devilish traits start to escape them. Even Piggy, someone who is portrayed as wise and kind, tries to justify for Simon’s murder when he says, “It was dark. There was that- that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” (156) Simon knew the truth about the beast, he had the potential to rescue the boys from themselves yet they escalated the situation and killed him for trying to spread the good news. The death of Simon was a real turning point in the novel. When the once pure, almost Godly boy is furiously executed is when the decline of the conch truly

Overall the conch is the most symbolic piece in Lord of the Flies because it symbolizes the boys rules, their civilization, and power over the boys. This is important to the theme of the story because the conch helps the boys realize that they are the beast all along. The conch helps the boys to notice this because when it breaks they realize it was controlling them all along and making them the

Stranded, alone, no adults in sight. The boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding were being evacuated from their school during the war, when their plane crashed on a small, uninhabited island. All adults were lost in the crash, only boys of various ages between twelve and six survived. Someone needs to be in charge, right? One boy, Ralph was unwillingly thrust into power because of his attractiveness and easy-going personality, while a power hungry, cunning boy named Jack strives to rule them all. Power is an important concept in this novel as it causes most events to take place, such as it does in the world we live in. It causes wars, arguments, laws, and revolutions, but when the right

1. Shortly after arriving on the island, Ralph and Piggy discover a conch in the water. Ralph blows the conch to announce his location so the boys can gather. From the first use of the conch, it signifies the unity of the boys because it is what brought them together. The conch is also used to maintain organization. Ralph notices the discord but resolves it by enforcing, “I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he 's speaking” (Golding 33). The conch represents the discipline of the boys and their civilization. Since Ralph thought to use the conch as a speaking system, the conch represents his leadership and authority over the boys. It also represents his authority because he is the only boy that does not need the conch to speak. The conch is a part of his authority that is being shared with the boys when it is their chance to voice an opinion or idea. In addition, Ralph does not specify that the conch can only be used by a specific group of boys, rather the conch is available for any boy, therefore representing equality and respect for all boys. Furthermore, the conch represents civilization back in England with its rules and structure. When planning a rescue, the boys race off the build a fire. Upon the mention of fire, “half the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten” (Golding 38). Building the fire represents the adventure on the island and the conch represents the old ways of English Civilization.

The conch and the sow’s head both wield a specific type of power over the juvenile boys in Lord of the Flies. The conch, used to call assemblies, represents progress and civilization while the sow’s head represents terror, barbarity, and malevolence and is partly to blame for Simon’s demise. Lord of the Flies is a novel about power because throughout the book Jack and Ralph quarrel over who should be the chieftain of the children and the novel uses the conch and the sow’s head to represent divergent forms of power and authority. Also, the book shows the reader the power of symbols such as the conch and the pig’s head and even the island that the children remain inevitably imprisoned on until their liberation at the conclusion of the novel. Just about everything within this novel is a representation of something that is considerably greater. Lord of the Flies also displays the power of an individual to use symbols to control a group such as Ralph using his conch to represent his authority and Jack using the Beast to make the children adhere to

Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he proves that human nature is savage. In this novel, a group of young boys survive a plane crash and land on a deserted island where they attempt to create a society from scratch, but ultimately fall into chaos and barbarity. In Lord of the Flies, Golding portrays the theme that one’s primitive nature is revealed when civilization is destroyed through symbolism, diction, and characterization.

When the boys get stranded on this island they must take care of themselves and try to get rescued. As the boys climb this mountain to get home they face new challenges which resulted them to descend into savagery. With these new challenges of killing the pig for the first time, them breaking the conch, and deaths of Simon and Piggy they to descend into savagery causing them to lose their innocence. After the boys crash landed on the island it was only a matter of time before the boys descend into savagery because lack of leadership, need for survival and loss of innocence. Their first goal on the island was to have fun and get rescued but throughout their stay, they get further away from that.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the conch symbolizes a government. This shell, that Ralph and Piggy have found, gives order and authority. It also shows how fragile the government is. The first day on the island, when Ralph has been voted as chief, he sets up his ideal government, which is a some sort of a democratic union. The rules set are based on all of the boys agreement, but as time passes by, their “government” starts corrupting. The boys start making up their own rules and no longer following the rules they had set up their first day on the island, as the boys fight, they slowly start breaking their group apart. Until finally, the conch breaks into little pieces. And both the conch and their government, fails to exist after this incident.

At the beginning of the novel, the conch held a substantial amount of power and portrayed their ambition for a democracy. At one point, Piggy tries to get the rest of the boy’s attention by saying,“The conch. I got a right to speak” (p.45). Seen in this quote, the conch symbolizes the impulse for equality of listening to each other while giving each other peace while their voices are heard. Throughout the novel the conch loses the intent of order comparatively of the boys losing a sense of civilization. Moreover, as some of the boys stop clamoring for unity they begin to lose hope “If I blow the conch and they don't come back; then we've had it” (p. 92). In this quote, Ralph who was previously an honorable leader is now tolerating the savagery and squandering the idea of a fire assisting their rescue. Furthermore, Jack who seems to be the most popular leader, is the first to condemn the conch as seen in his quote “We don't need the conch anymore” (p.102). Jack emphasizes how the conch is ineffectual, symbolizing his aspiration to achieve all