Savagery In Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

The conch shell can indicate the fall of order and authority like how the Jews had no rights and their lives changed drastically. Jack can be connected to Hitler because he wants power and wants control over the other boys. Lord of the Flies reveals Humans tend to oppose authority, but it also exhibits Humans tend to act savagely when they are exposed to extreme

One of the most noteworthy symbol he uses throughout the story is the conch. A conch is a spiral-shaped shell, that can be used to make a loud sound. The conch’s significance is that it gives people the power to speak, as the chief of the group, Ralph, explained to them. Golding says, “ I’ll give the conch for the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”(Golding 33). The significance of this quote is that it is showing how conditions were when there was law, order, and structure in their group. At the beginning, it holds an important power, as all the boys followed the rules and regulations set by Ralph. However, this conch gradually lost power, as people began to ignore it, and chaos began to erupt between the boys. As Golding said, “The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist”(Golding 181). The significance of this quote is that, once the conch broke, it symbolized that all society, order, and structure was completely lost from the boys. This ultimately proves the point stated in the thesis, because in this situation, the conch represents a connection to society, and even though it took some time, that connection to society eventually got broken and the evil within emerged through the boys, which is the whole idea of what the thesis is

The quote illustrates how the conch isn’t seen to be as important anymore, and shows the beginning of the transformation from order to chaos. Also, the rules associated with the conch begin to fade along with its power, which also demonstrates the switch from having rules to total anarchy where rules don’t apply to anyone. From the beginning of the novel to the end, Golding changes what the conch represents to show how the civilization on the island changes from everyone getting along and being united, to there being no rules and Jack’s tribe having absolute power and control over the island. The conch which represented civilization at the beginning of the novel reveals how easy it is for disorder and chaos to overpower unity and the rules created in a society. When the conch was blown, everyone came together and made rules which created a type of civilization that was centered around the conch.

In the beginning of the book it represents order and strength in numbers; the conch is whole and healthy and respected. However when the conch is shattered Jack has taken control and no longer respects the authority of the conch. Nicholas P. Leveillee once said in a social article on obedience to society: “Obedience is a part of the foundation of society. Without obedience, naught would exist but chaos and anarchy. Without stability, productivity and the well-being of the citizens become non-existent.

The conch is one of the most important symbols in the novel because it represents civility on the island and without civility, the whole island would fall into chaos. Golding uses the conch to show what would happen to humans if law and order were removed from humanity. Rules and order are the only things that are keeping the boys from falling into savagery. Jack is one of the first

(Golding, 1954, p.42) This shows how the conch can be used to signify who is talking, but it also shows how fierce and ferocious everyone is. This proves that the conch should still be in the book because it drives the theme of being good and evil, along with savagery and civilization. Additionally, the conch is one of the only real ties to their humanity. When the group of boys split apart with one group led by Ralph and the other led by Jack, the group led by Jack symbolized all of the savagery they were drawn to.

William Golding’s idea of the “beast” within us all resonates in real life, not just in the book. Ralph, who represented order, structure, law and democracy soon toppled because of how much fear affected the boys. The conch, the link to society, was shattered by the evil that fear had created, which were the savages that the boys had turned into. It is ironic because the beast that the boys were so afraid of was actually the monsters that they had turned into. Without civilization, fear can warp and transform us into things that we would have never expected, much like Jack and the

Ralph and Jack both have very different opinions about the conch. By showing these opinions, they illustrate the struggle between good and evil. From the very beginning, a conch is used to summon the boys and it quickly becomes clear that the conch symbolizes the constraints of

Fierce, violent, uncontrolled all define one word, that word would be savage. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the flies the boys that have been trapped on an island due to a plane crash began to turn savage, driving them to do things they would have never done back home in England. William Golding wants to show to the readers how savagery had a massive escalation, how the children have been impacted by savagery and the emotions of the children throughout this book.

In the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding, the author uses the children’s savage behavior to express that non- occupied time can result in mental challenges. Violence stems from a variety of factors, including our circumstances and where we are. The narrator explains Roger’s motivation through his diction saying, “High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (180 Golding). In this quote, Roger is leaning his weight on a lever that will ultimately cause a rock to fall, crushing Piggy. (Which is ironic because I defended roger…)

“A stick snapped and he stifled a cough. Smoke was sleeping through the branches in white and yellow” (194-195). When Ralph notices this, it indicates how serious Jack is about killing Ralph; he’ll burn down the whole island if he has to. It displays how serious Jack is to take complete control and destroy all threats on the

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of English boys in their adolescence are stranded on an island. They crash-land while being evacuated because of an atomic war, so the boys must learn to cooperate with each other in order to survive. The boys are civil at first, but the bonds of civilization unfold as the rapacity for power and immediate desires become more important than civility and rescue. The conflict between Ralph, the protagonist, and Jack, the antagonist, represents the conflict between the impulse to civilization and the impulse to savagery, respectively. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Ralph and Jack’s struggle for power to show that greed and lust for power can corrupt the best

In The Lord of The Flies by William Golding, the beast is a symbol of not only evil and the devil, but it is also a symbol of inner darkness within man. Symbolism is symbols that represent concepts and ideas that are significant("Symbolism"). As the boys discuss and argue about the beast during their gathering, they list the many possibilities it may be. With the conch, Simon suggests, “Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us”(Golding 89). Simon's suggestion shows the beast is the impurity in them because he observes the barbaric actions of everyone around him, Jack’s aggressive attitude to lead and be right, and the differences between Ralph, Piggy, and Jack.

This quote is important because it shows Jack’s barbaric, bloodthirsty way of killing pigs. This shows the author's theme of savagery by the way Jack violently kills the pigs, as well as representing his unrealistic, out of control psychological state that is causing him to do this. Golding’s theme of civilization vs savagery really shows in a psychological reading of the

“Civilization is the lamb's skin in which barbarism masquerades. ”- Thomas Bailey Aldrich has shown how each human being has barbarism hidden under the mask of civilization. When there is absolute freedom and no outside check, how barbaric ways influence, dominate and overrule human psyche and how quickly human beings discard civilized ways under the tempting influence of barbarism. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, he displays the struggle between civilization and savagery through three characters: Jack, Ralph, and Piggy.