Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis

Second, of the many symbolic objects in the Lord of the Flies is the conch shell. The white conch shell represents the state of civilization on the island, the slow deterioration of this civilization, and finally the extinction of all of the civilization on the island. With the discovery of the conch shell it comes to symbolize the rise of civilization on the island. When Piggy exclaims to Ralph “Careful! You’ll break it—“(15) as he goes to pick up the shell, it shows the fragility of civilization and how one wrong move can shatter it. After that, Piggy then goes on to explain how valuable the conch is and how much it would cost to purchase in a shop. He informs “—a conch; ever so expensive. I bet if you wanted to buy one, you’d have to pay pounds and pounds and pounds—“(16). This discussion over the value of the conch symbolically displays just how precious civilization is to humans and the expense that the shell would bring in a shop displays the price that many are willing to pay for civilization. Ralph and Piggy then decide to use the shell to summon any other boys who are on the island. The shell is used to bring together a group of diversity and appeases their differences to create order. The conch shell also represents the creation of a key factor to its civilization. Once the group has been gathered, they begin to take the steps to organize themselves and assign duties. The organization and assignment of duties are both key roles into forming and maintaining

The conch shell is, though in an obscure way, present in everything relating to the law on the island. The conch shell, grants, the boy holding it the right to speak; furthermore, the blowing of the conch announces all meetings held on the island. The conch holds political power and influence over the boys. In fact, one factor, which directly results in the election of Ralph as the leader, is he is the one holding the conch. “But 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.” (Page 22/Lines 30-33) This quote powerfully exhibits the influence the conch has on political decisions that the boys make. The conch shell is extremely important to law structure on the island, even if it is not so obvious.

In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbolism throughout the book. Symbolism is the way an object is used to portray an idea or quality by having a symbolic meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the word. Some examples that are seen throughout the book include: Piggy’s glasses, the conch, and the scar.

This simple shell was of great significance to the boys on the island. The conch is first introduced by Piggy and Ralph when they are the only characters in Lord of the Flies. They both know there are more boys on the island and Piggy remembers you can blow in the shell and it makes sound, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us” (Golding 16). The conch stands for democracy. Ralph is the chief and no one dares to question his leadership, except Jack. William Golding also uses symbolism in his novel to show the conflict between the boys. Ralph has just blown into the shell calling all boys that might have been lost on the island. Jack walks up to the meeting place with his choir group “When he saw of the fair-haired boy with the creamy shell on his knees did not seem to satisfy him” (20 Golding). Jack is the type of person that does not like to take orders from anyone, Golding shows Jack’s rebellion by not respecting Ralph’s democracy. Another example why the conch represents democracy is when Golding uses the conch to show how savagery has taken over. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist’ (Golding 181). At the time of Piggy’s death, when it was only Ralph by his side, the savage influenced boys has finally brought order to an end. The democracy that has given all the

In the novel Lord of the flies, William Golding uses different sorts of symbols to express different ideas about human life and it’s struggles. Symbols are used in the literature, when one thing represents another thing to give it a totally different meaning that is much deeper than the original meaning. The novel Lord of the flies is about a group of british young boys who survived from a plane crush and landed on an island, they were alone on the island without adult’s supervision. William Golding uses a lot of different elements of symbolism to help give the readers a better understanding of the whole concept of the novel. Even the book itself is named after an important symbol, The Lord of the Flies “the pig’s head on the stick” which represents evil. The most significant symbols that William Golding uses in his novel are the conch shell, piggy’s glasses, and the fire.

Symbols are always regarded as crucial literary elements that help the author to enhance the themes in the process of a novel’s unfolding plot. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is credited as one of the best literary works of symbolism within this respect. Golding’s choice of certain objects has directly represented the themes and played important roles in conveying his message to the reader. The novel successfully reveals how a group of school children that are trapped on an isolated island lose their connection with the civilized world. Civilization is one of the main themes of the novel, and its downfall has depicted by the help of symbolic aspects.

In this novel, the conch shell is one of the most important symbols due to its respect, power and authority over the boys; the conch itself loses power throughout the course of the story. Once known that the boys are stranded on unknown island, Ralph, the

Even the “littluns”, who might even be too young to comprehend their situation on the deserted island, understand the power of the conch. “They obeyed the summons of the conch partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority […]” (Golding 59). In the beginning, the conch served as a symbol of order, but as soon as the boys forget about it, it was chaos ensues on the beach. For example, when Ralph mentions that they need a fire, all the boys got to their feet and ran in a disorderly manner to make a fire. Soon enough Jack Peridew begins questioning the authority of the conch by exclaiming that the rules do not matter (Golding 91). This begins the demise of the authority of the shell that will ultimately lead to the boys’ path to savagery.

In conclusion, the most prominent symbols are the conch, the fire, and the character Piggy, because without them, the boys would have died faster without being rescued. The most prominent items were the conch, for showing order and the fire, for showing rescue. Piggy was the one who found the conch and the one with the ability to create fire. The boys would have not been rescued or the ability to cook the pig they caught and abundance more of fighting for resources and power. With these, symbols, how would you describe

The boys are stranded and need some sort of a civilization before everything goes wild. So, they elect ralph as chief and they make a set of rules. The conch is how they call meetings. For one of the meetings, “by the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded” (golding 32). The conch was their only way to assemble. They do not have anything else they can use to communicate. The conch is an easy and simple way to keep order. Without the conch, no one would ever be able to have meetings. Plus, when they have the problem of everyone talking at once, Ralph comes up with a great solution to “give the conch to the next person speaking. He can hold it when he’s speaking… and he won’t be interrupted except by me” (golding 33). Before they started laying out the rules, everyone was talking at once. However, the organization of the conch made a systematic way for everyone to get a chance to speak without everyone talking at once. Everyone else, other than the person holding the conch, is not allowed and almost scared to speak.The conch is such a big part in the rules of the island, there really would not be rules without

Symbolism. With such an amazing storyline, how can a story like Lord of the Flies by William Golding not contain any symbols that represent something deep within the book. From the trees on the island to the plane crashing, this book is filled with meanings and clues. The ones that stood out the most: the “beast”, the conch, and the fire, will be talked about in this essay. To start, the “beast” will go first.

Additionally, a different object that holds great symbolic meaning is the conch. The conch is the lone object holding order within the island. When the conch is broken, the island became a hectic mess. Jack and his followers became savage warriors who were willing to kill anything that got into their way. Sadly, Roger is the only person ready to kill somebody. The conch represents the island’s rule system and order within the island, as well. Without either order or rules, chaos is allowed into people’s lives. As a result, without the conch, terror is released and Roger’s savage nature is permitted to do as it wishes. With the conch on the island, Roger’s evil can be prevented. Jack contributes to the chaos that occurs, as well. Without him, the island is under Ralph’s control and not split into two separate groups. In the novel it states, ’He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth. “Then I’ll give him the conch.” “ Conch?” “That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” “But-““Look-“ “And he won’t be interrupted, except by me.” Jack was on his feet. “We’ll have rules!” he cried out excitedly. “Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em-“(33) This quote shows Ralph setting the conch’s importance into the story. Without this tiny passage,

In the 1954 novel “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, symbols are evident throughout and are of key importance. William Golding creates a dystopian world, which represents what could happen if society was to fall apart, where some boys crash into an island and set up civilization. The novel is about the boys understanding and overcoming the “beast” inside all of them, while warring with themselves over leadership of the island, and trying to get rescued. Symbolism in the “Lord of the Flies” is represented through social power relations, such as the” fire”, which symbolises and represents their hope of being rescued, and the “conch” symbolises power, law, authority and order. Other symbols include the “Lord of the flies”, which is a pig’s head on a stick, and it symbolises savagery and destruction.

As the boys are stranded on the deserted island, in order to survive they copy civilization just like back in England. Authority such as rules and a head chief was much needed. In their quest of the finding such similarities, they come across the conch shell-creamy white- by the ocean. The group of boys take it as a symbol of authority inside the group. Ralph, the main character and the boy who originally found the conch blew it to assemble the group of boys. Minutes go by and Ralph is picked due to the fact that the conch is in his possession. The group of boys used meetings as a way to talk about problems.In fact, the process of this to

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the stranded boys come into contact with some particular elements that represent an idea which are called symbols. These symbols include the beast which represents the fear of the unknown and the darkness of mankind. The second symbol is the signal fire which represents hope. The third symbol is the conch shell which represents order. Golding indicates that when man is taken out of civilization, they have a natural instinct is to become evil, darkness and barbaric and these symbols help to support his opinion.