Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

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

confide in the conch and when the conch is held up, it is a sign of

Symbols are often used in literature to drive plot, give clues to events in the story, and develop key characters. They have more than one meaning, and in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are three key symbols used: the conch, Piggy’s eyeglasses and the impaled pigs head. These three symbols will be discussed by using specific references to the text as well as examining how they negatively impact the characters in the story.

Oftentimes authors will use symbolism through the characters in order to represent a larger encompassing theme. William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies is no exception to this pattern—as various characters in the book have such allegorical meanings. In the case of Jack, he could be said to represent the evilness in humanity, proven by three established concepts in the story: the true nature of his hunting tendencies, the progression of events that happen in his dancing rituals, and his interactions towards other symbolic figures. These three reasons, furthered by evidence shown throughout the novel, fit Jack into a role of symbolic evilness (add something here).

The conch is just a shell, But it does represents much more than that, the conch is power, order, respect and civility and when it's broken, It’s the loss of civilization. The conch is first found by Piggy and Ralph when they first get to the beach. Piggy who’s seen one before at someones house said “He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so Valuable”(11). Then later Ralph used it to do the same thing by blowing in it to find all the boys on the island and to call meeting later. During one of the

Fear and Symbolism make up a big part of the Lord of the Flies book. They co-exist amazingly in this book. Symbols appear everywhere in the book, from the conch to the beast, they all symbolize a part of our life today.

The conch was a big shell that Piggy found at the beginning of the novel. The conch is important because it commands power and respect from the boys. For example, Ralph and Piggy called the boys together for their first meeting. “The conch, we can use this to call others. Have a meeting they will come when they hear us” (Golding 16). The conch symbolizes power, rules and organization. For example, all of the boys were talking at once. “Conch, that is what the shell is called. I’ll give the conch to the next person who speaks. He can hold when he is speaking” (Golding 33). However, the conch shell loses its power when the boys become more barbaric. For example, the boys ignored Ralph and threw stones at him when he tried to blow the conch. Roger rolled a boulder onto Piggy and it also smashes the conch shell, representing the end of the civilized environment that once

William Golding kills off everything important to survival and by this he means that the world is doomed. So many significant objects are broken by the end of the book, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which is a novel about a bunch of inexperienced boys being trapped together on an island and are forced to find means of survival. There are a lot of symbols in this book that all represent the only way they can survive. Each symbol represents a piece of the world and how it functions. Without all of these pieces, the world can’t function. William Golding clearly shows that the world is doomed by one by one killing off all of the objects and symbols that keep them sane and alive.

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is a very iconic book in my opinion. This novel consists mostly of symbolism. Lord of the Flies talked about the relationship of teenage boys who survived a plane crash together. The boys are all on their own and struggling. They encounter many incidences that comply symbolism. A couple of the acts of symbolism are the beast the boys kept imagining, Piggy’s glasses, and the conch. The boys are all afraid of the beast, Piggy’s glasses demonstrate the fact that he saw everything more clear then the boys and how he started the fire. Lastly, the last of the most important symbolisms in the novel is the conch, showing the civilization and order.

The symbols in the Lord of the Flies all change meaning throughout the novel. As the boys change and develop, the symbols change with them. Some may become more positive or more negative and some may change meaning completely. Ralph, Piggy, and Jack all adjust to being stranded on the island differently and therefore react to and treat the objects on the island differently. With Jack’s development into savagery throughout the novel, his carelessness is evident in his lack of acknowledgement of symbols that are important to Ralph and Piggy who look at this experience more logically and optimistically. One symbol that changed dramatically throughout the novel is the fire. The fire in the Lord of the Flies is introduced as a symbol for hope, develops into destruction and is finalized as a representation of salvation.

For example, Piggy says, "'We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us'" (Golding 16). Piggy's knowledge of blowing the conch shows the significance of it from the beginning of the book. The conch represents the authority on the island, therefore, when the authority is lost, the conch loses color. Ralph eventually understands the conch is losing power when he states, "'If I blow the conch and they don't come back; we've had it. We shan't keep the fire going. We'll be like animals. We'll never be rescued'" (Golding 92). Ralph is running out of options, and can no longer tame the other savage children. He does not intend for the conch to become useless to the other children. Ralph strongly believes the conch is the reason they all became a tribal unit, but when the conch loses power, the tribe loses civilization. Ralph and Piggy may consider the conch as the most influential piece of their civilization on the island, however, the other children regard the conch as a shell on the beach. The conch and other items on the island become neglected by the other

The novel, The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, applies a variety of symbols to represent how the boys use tangible items in attempt to stay civilized and become savage. When the boys first land on the island, Ralph, later know as the chief, finds a glamorous shell, the conch. He uses the conch to call meetings when one is due, and the boys use the conch to control the flow the gatherings. They may only speak if they are holding the conch: "The conch goes to the next person to speak" (Goulding 33). The conch unites the boys in an orderly and organized way.

Symbolism in Lord of the Flies The story, Lord of the Flies, has many interesting symbols relating adult society to kids surviving on an island. Many of the characters and items in this novel such as Jack or the conch can be interpreted on a macroscopic scale but the most important being this; a microcosm of children on an island makes a great symbolic message about human nature, society and how grown-ups live and govern - and how they cannot. When you consider the time Period this book was written, you can see where Golding got some of his inspiration. Europe was

Lord of the Flies has symbols throughout the story, each character brings a different point of view. Piggy, Ralph, and Jack take a leading role with all the boys, although they vote Ralph in charge both of the other boys take a leadership position. Goulding uses the boys to show the faults of mankind and the roots of all evil. Four symbols Goulding used in the novel were: Piggy’s glasses, the Conch Shell, The Beast, and Simon’s hiding place. Therefore, the symbols show the true character of the boys who are stranded on an island.

Lord of the Flies: William Golding has said that his novel Lord of the Flies was symbolic from the beginning until the end when the boys are rescued. During the course of the novel these symbols are constantly changing, giving us a new interpretation of the island society.