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Lord Of The Flies Conch Quotes

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Civilization is only present when humans work together accordingly. In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a strong development of disorder and mayhem roams throughout a deserted island where many boys are stranded, trying to adapt to their new and dangerous atmosphere. These boys create a vision for readers of how change can happen within people in just a matter of time when devilization and anarchy occurs in a society that has become broken. Golding uses the symbol of the conch to represent the fragility of civilization and reveal how quickly order, peace and rules can turn into chaos and violence due to the absence of humanity. In the beginning of the Lord of the Flies, the conch represents a strong united symbol that kept the boys …show more content…

For example, the boys show civilization through the conch by using it to share opinions by giving “...the conch to the next person to speak...And he won’t be interrupted” (Golding 33 ). This quote shows the power of the conch because it identifies how the shell silences everyone else so one person has the ability to speak and influence their ideas without chaos or disruption. Another quote that influences the idea of the conch in the beginning of the novel is when Ralph “...finished blowing the conch and the plate was crowded’’ ( Golding 32 ). This action made by Ralph identifies the central idea to the power of the conch because the littluns and the rest of the boys listen to Ralph due to the fact that they see Ralph being a link to the adult world and of the power he withholds against them as a chief. Overall it may be said that the conch in the beginning of the novel represents peace, order and balance of society by the actions the boys portray with the use of the conch.At the end of the novel, the conch becomes a useless, powerless and worthless symbol to the boys due to the release of chaos and disorder on the …show more content…

This quote is important because it shows how the boys lost a sense of humanity by crushing the conch that symbolizes order and leadership that kept civilization alive until now. Another detail that is striking about the conch being powerless is when Ralph realizes that all order and tranquility is lost on the island and reflects this by thinking about how “..the breaking of the conch and the deaths of Piggy and Simon laid over the island like a vapor” ( Golding 181 ). This detail is so impacting to the conch because the existence of the shell gave the boys a sense of hope and connection to society, but now all it gives the boys is the idea of an exceptional concept of wildness and chaos due to the loss of the conch and the deaths of the boys from the events they have caused leading to these disasters on the island. Considering all of this, the conch at the end of the Lord of the Flies symbolizes death, disorder and loss of civilization for the reasons that the wildness and chaos the boys built up with the tragic events on the island, including the powerless image that the conch now

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