The Conch In Lord Of The Flies

In the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, it shows that the essence of man is evil and unacceptable. A group of boys get stranded on an island where they make the most of their situation, and ultimately turn on each other. One of the boys, named Jack, proves Golding’s point that the essence of man is terrible by behaving and acting like a savage. He and Ralph frequently intervene and try to assert dominance to become the leader of their tribe. Jack shows the essence of man is corrupt by his loss of innocence, his behavior like a dictator, and his uncivilized acts.

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).

Golding uses the word “obscurely” in order to symbolize that the conch has so much influence that it can subliminally sway the boys’ opinion of its beholder. In addition to using the conch to argue the presence of civilization, Golding uses the conch’s loss of power to argue that the conch is a symbol of the regression of civilization into utter savagery. As the boys descend into savagery, the conch loses its power because the boys no longer listen to the individual that uses it. Golding argues that Jack descends into complete savagery, but does not bring everyone else down as well when Jack says, “‘It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to rest of us’” (102). Golding uses Jack to argue that part of the group has regressed into

Who will join my tribe?” This shows that Jack is manipulating the boys by not giving them an option. He is almost telling them that if you don’t go with me, my hunters won't protect you or get you food. This is one of Jack strategies to build up his group. He doesn’t care about the well-being of the boys though he main focus is just being in charge. When Ralph was in charge of the group Jack was very upset and mad.

Because the boys eventually stop accepting Ralph as their leader, the power-hungry Jack takes over and the island falls into a state of chaos. Hobbes believes that in a natural state without a government, humans are selfish, impulsive beings in a constant civil war. The solution is for

‘We mustn’t let anything happen to Piggy, must we?’” (117). When Simon speaks up and says he’ll go. Ralph turns to look at Jack, clearly ticked off. This part of the text shows how Jack is already not too fond of Piggy and Ralph is annoyed about Jack’s sarcasm because he believes he’s right and values Piggy. In summary, Lord of the Flies is a novel about a bunch of boys who get stuck on a deserted island and have the proper resources, and Ralph and Jack have different ways charge to control it

Jack isn’t taking into account the fact that Ralph is a rational leader and simply thinks of himself, which is selfish and arrogant. Jack, much like the id, strives to take control and overpower those around him, taking any means necessary to achieve what he wants. “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head.” (Golding 71). Jack’s violent encounter with Piggy was unnecessary and cruel, only proving that he is an impulsive and violent character who craves to be in control, getting upset when something doesn’t go his way. Ralph maintains that Jack is powerful and intimidating, frequently neglecting the rules in order to satisfy his own

Piggy cried out in terror: ‘My specs!’” (Golding 71). Piggy is broken inside when his glasses are broken because they are what he needs to be able to see. He has a connection to his glasses because without them he would be living in a blur. The alienation of Piggy can be seen when Jack tells him, “We don’t want you… Three’s enough” (Golding 24). Piggy was wanting to go with the boys to explore the island and Jack rudely told him

Counter to theirs, to stamp out these accursed people with my sword” (IX 162-163). This shows that he weeps about not getting what he wants, because they are getting the glory. He hates the Trojans for the fact that they do a better job than he does at defeating people. Turnus does not show that he cares for his troops and that is something that Aeneas does. While they are in a meeting discussing the Trojans and Turnus and one of Turnus’ men stands up, Drances, and he says to him: “Turnus surrender to king and country their due rights!

So we ask ourselves, what are we humans? animals? savages? Or maybe, it’s only Us. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy...” William Golding’s Lord of the flies uses children because they develop to their natural instincts, evil over good.