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Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

Decent Essays

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a book stuffed of symbolism, from Ralph’s hair at the beginning, to the island on fire at the end. When the fire is dead, it’s a loss of hope and survival. When they kill Simon, the boys lose their innocence. Many of these coincide with politics. Three main symbols though, (that continue throughout the entire book and change often) are the conch, Jack, and Simon.
The conch is used to symbolize order or democratic government. In the very beginning of the book, Ralph and Piggy find it in a tide pool, and then use it to call all of the boys together. Later it is used as a token that allows you to speak in a meeting. All of the boys held a certain reverence for it, usually calming down once their attention is brought back to it. But soon enough the boys start to stop using the conch, and begin to have large conflicts between them. Ralph becomes desperate, and is unable to blow the conch after Jack and many others disregard the conch. “‘The rules!’ shouted Ralph. ‘You’re breaking the rules!’ . . . But Jack shouted against him. ‘Bollocks to the rules! . . . If there’s a beast we’ll hunt it down!’” (Golding 91). Only a few left believe in the conch, which causes a division. In chapter 11, Piggy is holding the conch when he gets hit by a rock. As he falls, the conch shatters, and shows to us that, like in a revolution, the government had been overthrown, and those who did it have taken charge. Like many rulers who are not being listened to,

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