Marxist Perspective : Lord Of The Flies

In the beginning of the novel, when Piggy and Ralph spot the conch, they use it to call the meeting, soon the boys impose a “rule of the conch”. This rule made sure to keep order by stating that no one could speak during meeting or serious talks without holding a conch. This object represents law, power, peace, and control. As soon as the conch is destroyed all of that disappears, disaster begins, boys start fighting for the title of chief. The conch is essential to the development of the story because as soon as it was gone the obliteration of order on the island began, the island was in

First Ralph was voted to be the leader or chief on the island for the time being. During the vote for chief Golding points out the fact that Ralph shows the qualities of a leader out of all the boys. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out. . . and most obscurely yet most powerfully there was the conch” (Golding 22). Ralph was seen as the best fit for the new role based the current circumstances. After all isn’t a leader supposed to create a sense of unity? Once the so called “beast” has been discussed, Ralph to restate the plan to be rescued. During a meeting that is then called, Golding talks about how Ralph has to actually wave the conch to grasp everyone’s attention. “The simple statement, unbacked by any proof but the weight of Ralph’s new aurhority, brought light and happiness. He had to wave the conch before he could make them hear him” (Golding 37). The conch has shown much more power of leadership and control than Ralph. If he were to call a meeting without the conch little to nothing would happen, but more frustration of Ralph. Coincidentally this starts to happen when new

Constantly, there are people who are in positions of power that society elects, even if some do not agree with the decision, such as Ralph for chief. When on the island, Ralph blows a conch to see who or what is around the area, drawing in the other boys, including Jack. The boys agreed that they needed a chief. “Seems we ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 22). The islanders choose Ralph as their leader, infuriating Jack. “Who wants me? Every hand outside the choir except Piggy's hand was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. Im chief then.” (Golding 23) This was the moment Ralph was elected, and Jack's pride deteriorated. He felt that he should have been chief instead of Ralph. Jack is accustomed to being obeyed and followed by his choir. He has

"Shut up," said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things." ... Good morning Mrs Downes and class, every civilisation needs a leader or a chief without one, it would deteriorate into utter chaos. William Golding shows early on that a natural born leader is amongst the mix of boys on the island whether he leads the boys to their rescue or demise only his actions and decisions will tell. Ralph is responsible for the island’s decline because his poor leadership skills result in nothing getting done and the island breaking into splinter groups. From the beginning, Jack edges for power against Ralph. Unlike Ralph, Jack has some leadership skills. Ralphs claim to leadership is his good looks and that he was the one who first blew the conch. Yet Ralph is voted leader.

The two boys together find a conch shell which comes to represent democracy and order, and the high hand of authority. Ralph blows it to bring together any other people that might be on the island. Soon a crowd gathers. The boys are made up of bigguns and littluns, the bigguns being around twelve years old, and the littluns being around five or six. Immediately the conch is seen as a token of respect, so it is always used to call meetings. We are now introduced to the rest of the main characters.

The conch was initially used to gather the scattered survivors on the islands. After the reunion, the boys decide to bring back the old society's authorities by listing rules that are to be followed, and that the conch eventually elects their first leader - Ralph.

When the boys first crash land on the island, Ralph and Piggy quickly try to bring order to the island while Jack shows he has other things in mind. The conch Piggy finds becomes a method of calling a meeting among the boys. At the first meeting, the boys’ conditioning from society shows when Ralph comes up with the idea that the boys “ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 18). Ralph knows that in the adult world, having a leader works. He is trying to mimic that with the group by electing someone to make the decisions. However, early on we see Jack acting in ways that would not be considered civilized. When he is out exploring with Ralph and

In this book, the reader learns about the boys stranded on the island, and one group that stands out on the island is that of the “littluns”. These are the youngest children on the island, and also the most persuadable by the elder youth (called biguns) due to their lack of knowledge of current events, actions and consequences. For example, due to a lack of knowledge of the side effects of consuming too much fruit, the littluns later suffer digestion problems. The biguns often manipulate the young ones in order to increase their power and image on the island. One such example is Jack. He uses the vulnerability of the littluns in order to make a statement about himself and what he can accomplish. An instance of this would be when he suggests

As I drove my luxurious Rolls Royce phantom, I knew I needed to follow the laws and establishments set by local police and national government and after reading "Lord of the Flies",I realized how powerful a material object can be. In "Lord of the Flies",the conch symbolized such great power with the way it made one person speak and everyone else stop speaking. In our world we stop at stop signs,follow traffic light signals,listen to law enforcement officers and follow rules even when we just live, even just living with rules such as obviously being a civilized human being with manners and respect toward everyone. The conch did just that in "Lord of the Flies",it was the law and establishment set by society to keep order. But just like in our

     When everyone is more settled down, Ralph suggests that they elect a leader and chief. All the kids elect Ralph as the leader, mainly because he is the one who found the conch and the one who is holding it. We at once see how Jack greatly disapproves of the decision taken by the kids. He

Piggy urges Ralph to use what power he has left by calling a meeting: “’What’s grown-ups going to say?’ cried Piggy again…The sound of mock hunting, hysterical laughter, and real terror came from the beach. ‘Blow the conch, Ralph...You got to be tough now. Make ‘em do what you want.’ Ralph answered in the cautious voice of one who rehearses a theorem. ‘If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued.’” In this situation, Piggy is still worried about the punishment of his previous life. He is the closest thing to an adult on the island, and Ralph is the only one who advocates listening to him, illustrating Ralph’s connection to the rules of traditional civilization, which the other boys despise and want to escape through the island. After showing blatant disregard to their “chief’s” rules, they decide to escape the constraints of Ralph’s assemblies and embrace their inner savagery with Jack. Piggy urges Ralph to blow the conch, the symbol of his power throughout the book, but Ralph understands that his form of leadership is becoming the less desirable option to the boys: if he calls an assembly and the other boys do not respond, its power, and his civilization, will have completely disintegrated. Ralph constantly emphasizes their responsibilities on the island—specifically, tending to the signal fire.

William Golding, the author, narrates the conch to shows it's democratic power and how democracy will yield to rule by force in trouble. The conch is ruled by Ralph, which immediately gives him authority and power over others, “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; and partly because they enjoyed the entertainment of the assemblies.” (59) Ralph is also linked to the adult side of the island, just because of the power of the conch. Clearly, the conch has much power for being just a shell, which leads the others kids wanting a share of the conch. Soon, the conch becomes a grab for power and anyone who can use and also overuse it. This may result in a not needed power struggle, which ultimately leads to the downfall of many strong leaders and their followers. The conch was also a symbol of communication,

The conch to the boys is like the crown to a king. Whoever blows the conch is the one who leads the group. The boys decided on civilization over savagery when they chose Ralph to be their leader instead of Jack. Ralph wants a happy civilized way of surviving, but Jack on the other hand believes hunting and savaging to be the best way to survive on the island. Even the choir dreadfully raised their hands for Jack to lead, they were outnumbered by the people outside the choir who chose Ralph as the leader. From the beginning Ralph tries to establish a peaceful place on the island for the boys.

The Marxist theory of Class Conflict also helps us understand the novel better. It could be argued that the groups that form on the island can be considered as ‘classes’. As the boys splinter into factions, some behave peacefully and work together to maintain order and achieve common goals, while others rebel and seek only anarchy and violence. It could be seen that Ralph and Piggy are the ruling class, the bourgeoisie, and Jack and his hunters are the working class, the proletariat. This is because Ralph clearly establishes his role as the chief, with an almost unanimous consent from the boys, which gives him the power to rule over them. Alternatively, it could be argued that Jack possesses the highest Class status on the island, due to his ‘ownership’ of the choir, his hunters, he says to Ralph, “See? They do what I want”. Here it could clearly be seen that Jack and his group no longer

Ralph's "stillness", the stance of a calculative person thinking about following actions, accredited him to have the traits of a leader. In order to become the symbol of democracy, Ralph needed the conch. The conch is quoted as being solely "the most powerful" object as it signified order and equality, giving everyone an equal voice including responsibility in society. Democracy is defined as a society where the people rule. Democracy is prevalent here as the people are given access to create change and are given voice using the conch. Ralph, as the chief and the conch, symbolize the ideals of democracy. During Jack and his choir boys' encounter with Ralph and Piggy, Jack controlled the choir boys with a iron hand; Piggy related his observations: "He [Piggy] was intimidated by this uniform superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew's [Jack's] voice" (21). Piggy was able to illustrate Jack's ability to command the choir boys. Jack's "offhand authority " over the choir boys, who later became the hunters later in the tribe, is a trait of