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Symbols Of Power In Lord Of The Flies

Decent Essays

Symbols of Power in Lord of The Flies

Symbols have been used to express power throughout history. Judges have gavels. Police officers wear badges. Kings wear crowns. Symbols are used to categorize people into different social classes or groups. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, those in leadership use tangible objects as symbols in an attempt to gain control over the group.
There are two main symbols of power in the novel--the conch shell and the ???? PIGGY’s GLASSES? BEAST?

CONCH
At the beginning of the novel, one symbol of power is the conch shell. Piggy finds the shell and realizes it can be used as a horn to call the boys together. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us.” Later, he suggests that whoever holds the conch shell in their meetings has permission to speak, and everyone accepts that the shell is a symbol of authority. Ralph uses the conch as a symbol of dominance. He always speaks using the conch in meetings: “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he is speaking” (39). The boys gain power through holding the conch shell--it represents law and order. Golding writes that, “Most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” Toward the end of the novel, Jack no longer recognizes the conch shell as a symbol of power and authority. Jack declares that the conch is meaningless as a symbol of power, and its decline in importance parallels the decline of civilization on

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