System Of Authority In Lord Of The Flies

In William Golding’s Lord of Flies, a group of British boys was on an isolated island, and after a few days with quarrels and fights between the boys, most of them finally survive. Although the novel seems like a cruel fiction story, the plot and the children shows some similarities with the thoughts of the Enlightment philosophers. In my opinion, the system of authority and the children in Lord of Flies share a lot of similarities with the thought of Thomas Hobbes. In the novel, the conch is one of the most important items which symbolized the authority, and it gathers all children together. The one who gets the conch would have the power. At the beginning of the story, Ralph finds the conch. He blows the conch and gathers all children to the platform for making a meeting. During the election of the chief, the symbol of power is shown, the conch. “Him with the shell…broke into applause” (Golding 16-17). This quote shows that the majority of children thinks and agrees with that the conch symbolizes the power, and the one who has conch should be the chief. The children vote for Ralph as the chief only because he gets the conch. After the election, “Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence” (Golding 17). The conch still shows as the symbol of authority. Then in the next meeting, Ralph said: “I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he 's speaking.” (Golding 25). The person who can get the conch would have the right to speak. It shows that