Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

The conch a significance a powerful symbol of civilization.The shell governs the boys meetings and the respect they have with each other.For example as the novel progress the conch, “we can use this to call the others. Have a meeting, they'll come when they hear this.”(Golding 22)Piggy tells ralph that blowing the conch anyone else on the island will come when they hear it. It symbolizes the forces that brought the boys together.Later the conch becomes disrespected and cannot hold everyone together anymore. The boys become savages and lose every resource they have to survive in the island.Jack and Ralph feud “I’m chief and i've got the conch ralph says, Jack responds you don’t have it with you and the conch doesn't count at this end of the

The conflict between individualism and collectivism has always been of interest to humanity. While one ideology places high importance on the one person and their abilities, the latter emphasizes the need to put the common good of the group before any single individual. “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding explores this ideological struggle through an allegory that pits two boys – Ralph and Jack – and their respective philosophies against each other. Golding portrays Ralph as a relatable, sympathetic main character whose key focus is rescue from the island the boys are stranded on. As a foil to his character, Jack’s main desire is to gain power and control without care for the group’s fate. Hence, Ralph’s perspective is closely linked to conforming to the civilization they have always known – England. Though conformity carries a negative connotation, Golding challenges this by showing the disasters that occur when the boys implicitly choose to not adhere to the social standards they first set-up. When Jack gives into his bloodlust, he inspires the same craving in many of the boys, which leads to their descent into animalistic behaviour as a collective. In “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding demonstrates, through the character of Ralph, the constant inner battle an individual faces between choosing to follow the social rules of an established community for the common good and giving into their most primal, impulsive wishes for the sake of pleasure and fun.

From Lord of the Flies, there were many things like Conch and Fire that symbolized something. One of the most important symbols was the Conch. The Conch, which is a big shell that can be seen at the beach symbolizes many things in the Lord of the Flies. The Conch represents power because it once was able to control the boys with it, and it also symbolizes democracy because of anyone who has their ideas and can speak their thoughts. The Conch represents unity because it was used to call an assembly and was used to put the boys and keep the peace between the boys so nobody would fight with each other. So, the conch is an important symbol in the novel, because it represents power, democracy, and unity.

Ralph is an insufficient leader, which causes his society to greatly decline. Ralph creates the policy of only speaking when one holds the conch in their hands; only Ralph is allowed to interrupt since he is the leader. The boys are at the top of a mountain, defeated, because their fire didn’t stay lit. When Piggy tries to explain why it didn’t work, Jack interrupts him.

William Golding utilizes Lord of the Flies to prove that the inherent nature of man is truly savage and cannot be contained by any form of civil government. Characters, setting, atmosphere, and other elements are all used by Golding in the novel as metaphors and symbols to ultimately reveal the natural intention of man. In Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, John Locke’s Concerning Civil Government , and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, they share their own personal interpretations on man’s inherent nature, with the closest to Golding being Hobbes. Although both Golding and Hobbes state that man’s true nature is evil and selfish, Hobbes advocates for an absolutist government as capable of controlling man through fear of punishment, as opposed to Golding’s belief that no form of government is sufficient to control man. Conversely, Rousseau argues that men are born with morality and inalienable freedom, and John Locke believes that man is free but is neither inherently reputable nor immoral but a blank slate. Both want the people to be in control to prevent corruption from changing man, although Rousseau insists that a direct democracy to completely give power to the people would be more effective rather than only a representative democracy where the people would have individuals represent them which Locke suggests.

The island in William Golding’s novel, Lord Of The Flies, is one of wonder and a great deal of natural resources. However what develops on this oasis is war, bloodshed and cruelty. This could also be said for Earth, as the same traits occur in the global society as well. Therefor, the island symbolises the entire outside world in three key ways, social relationships, war, and politics.

In the beginning of the Lord of the Flies we are introduced to two young boys, who have survived a tragic plane crash. The aircraft was an evacuation plane and it was transporting the group of boys out of England. One of the boys named Piggy is trying to catch up to the other boy, Ralph. Piggy is described as being very fat and shorter than Ralph. He wears “thick spectacles” (William Golding 7) and he is the first to determine that they are on an island. Piggy is also the one that knows how to use the conch shell and comes up with the use of it, which is to call everyone else to the beach. He believed the conch created order. Once the conch had been used we are introduced to more boys and they gain interest in Piggy’s glasses. They discover that Piggy’s glasses can start fires and they refer to them as “burning glasses” (Golding 40). The boys also rejoiced when they discovered that his glasses could create the fires. They proclaimed, “His specs - use them as burning glasses!” (Golding 38). The spectacles symbolize Piggy’s intelligence, which distinguished him from the others. Without the glasses Piggy would be blind and he would not know what to do. Although Piggy is portrayed as being physically weak and not having a great chance at survival, he is the only one that seemed to know a few survival skills. He is the one that created the fire, sundial and shelter. Without his glasses he would not be ‘intelligent’. His appearance and personality cause him to be shunned

Laws and rules are what set people apart from savagery. Leaders are what keep a group alive in times of crisis. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Piggy is the only character who remains civil and does not turn to savagery. The boys notice his appearance more than his brain which blinds them from seeing his intelligence, patience, and rationality.

The conch keeps the meetings and even simple conversations in orderly terms. When its purpose begins to get ignored, more conflict arises. Ralph keeps hold of the conch even in times full of fear. In the text, it is stated, "He could see the whiteness in the gloom near him so he grabbed it from Maurice and blew as loudly as he could," (Golding, 88). While all of the boys are filled with fear about the talk of the beast, Ralph wants to keep them calm and keep matters controlled. The conch does help him to easily call meetings for the group, and it helps to keep society present amongst the boys. However, when the fear overcomes the peace that the boys have so far, the orderliness begins to deteriorate. Ralph tries his best to control the situation, but losing touch of a truly experienced society has made the boys struggle with staying calm and rational. The boys let of any sense of morals and obligations that they had gathered so far in their childhoods slip right out of their hands, and most of the boys let hunting and savagery become their top

In Lord of the Flies, several symbols are used to illustrate important ideas that are crucial to the plot and meaning of the book. One of these symbols is the conch: this rare shell is not only a precious and expensive in the world of merchandise; it also holds a dark and mysterious power over a group of English boys, lost on an island with no adults, clues, or means of escape. The boys set up a civilization and try to live in the society they have set up. This system works for a while, aided by the power of the conch. However, as the story advances, the civilized way of life that the boys have set up starts falling apart, and savagery starts luring certain boys outside of the safe and rational walls of

Each character in the novel Lord of the Flies represents a part of the psyche according to Freud. The power struggle between the characters displays the need for civilization to control the instinctual nature of Freud 's theory.

In today’s world, there are many different and effective types of governments. They range from republics to dictatorships, with each of them having pros and cons regarding their effectiveness and how happy the people living under them are. In Lord of the Flies, author William Golding tells the story of a group of boys stranded on an island, with only their wits to keep them alive. 2 boys eventually take power. The first to take power, Ralph, uses a democratic government in order to keep things fair for all of the boys. However, this fails, and the second boy Jack takes power. He uses a totalitarian government, and while it is very effective, Jack’s inability to lead becomes a major problem, and his poor decision-making eventually burns down the entire island. William Golding uses Lord of the Flies as a political allegory in order to prove that both democratic and totalitarian governments will only succeed if the people in their systems support the goals given to them by their government.

William Golding, the creator of the book Lord of the Flies describes evil as a trait we are born with and learn to control it, while another man by the name of Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought of the opposite whereas we are born good, but the world and society around us change us to doing evil things, but what is considered evil? The one who decides what is evil and what is not is not just one man or women alone, it is decided as a community, and this description of evil seems to fit Rousseau’s beliefs more than William Golding and it is what I believe in with stronger feelings.

In the story, Ralph orders that the conch only be used to allow a boy the right to speak during a meeting. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”(Golding 33). Ralph fears and respects the power and purpose of the conch very highly and uses it to conduct and influence an organized and structured civilization.

The conch is seen as one of the major symbols of the novel. The conch can symbolize a democratic government. The conch has brought the boys together, formed their society. The conch has made their rules and regulations. In the book no one was suppose to talk unless they had the conch. Halfway through the book the conch starts losing its power. The boys split up into two different tribes. The conch symbolizes the rise and the fall of society’s rules, order, and regulation. It made people understand how much rules and regulations are important in a world’s society. Therefore, the conch mad the “Lord of the Flies” a smaller version of what our society is today.