What Does The Conch Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an allegory that explores the instinctual evil humans possess and how this evil manifests into our societies. The book demonstrates this through young boys who are stranded on an island due to a plane crash. Despite their best efforts, the lack of adult guidance inhibits the boys from maintaining an orderly society. The boys turn to their survival instincts, many of which are evil. The lack of order exposes the internal savagery within the boys, resulting in an understanding of the flaws within all humanity. The Lord of the Flies uses the innocence of young boys to show the societal impact of human errors through their lack of adult supervision, the desire to inflict violence, and the need for authority over others.

There are many laws and unspoken and logical rules that keep society civil. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Roger finds himself throwing minuscule stones at the younger boys, however missing them, due to the conditioning of society. This is a result of the little boys being protected by policemen, parents, school and the law. It is also evident and true that there are other factors that allow for civility to prosper in humanity, some of which are present on the island with the boys, but some factors are extremely scarce. But it is when these factors are mostly absent or diminish, that the idea and foundation of civilization will weaken or fade. William Golding allows symbols to show a complex, yet beautiful and convincing transition from a theme of civility and order, to one of savagery and also moral depravity. The reason for this new theme being that the boys are faced with an internal danger; the true nature of humanity, which fuels the drastic change from innocent boys who abide by rules to rabid animals. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, while the conch symbol best conveys the influence of the adult world on the boys, the conch symbol, paired with the pig hunt motif best conveys the theme of regression into savagery.

"A conch he called it. He used to blow it and his mum would come. It's ever so valuable" – Piggy, Lord of the Flies. The conch is a sea creature, its shell is revered in many cultures such as Hinduism and Buddhism for its beauty and the sound it makes. The conch is also that shell in Lord of the Flies which is blown into to gather the boys. The author, William Golding, uses the conch to show that democracy will succumb to rule by force in the face of serious trouble or need. In the book, it is a symbol of democratic power but it is not without its enemies who eventually overrule it.

First and foremost, when the boy with fine hair (Ralph) and the fat boy (Piggy) discover the conch washing up onto the shore the phrase, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us.”(Golding 16) is spoken by Piggy. When Ralph blows into the conch shell the other surviving people come, showing the shell has power. From there on out the conch shell is used to call meetings or assemblies, at those gatherings the conch is to be held in the hands of the person who is speaking to the rest of the group, typically one of the older boys. The boys on the island desperately need something to govern with, and the conch shell does a fine job. The shell is looked up at by the boys, they look at it like an authoritative figure and they listen to it when it is blown, and mostly respect and listen to the person who has the conch in his hands when they are speaking.

The boys were worried and scared when they first got off the crash landed plane on the island. The boys were unorganized until they found the conch shell and organized themselves. The fire gave the boys hope and a chance of survival they first tried to bring a ship in to get them off the island but their plan didn't work.

The conch is a symbol of law, order, and power; it is used to call a meeting towards everyone on the island. The conch creates a small government, which Ralph is the leader of. Without the conch, there would have been total chaos on the island, as the conch was the primary reason to which a meeting was called for and a leader was elected. The rule of the conch is shown when Ralph uses as a substitute to the “hands up” system like at school, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking. And he won’t be interrupted. Except by me.” (Golding, 33). Throughout the book, the conch is the primary source of law, order, and power, even for the most witty of people. Jack, someone who opposes Ralph countless times

Ralph and Piggy believe that Jack and his tribe are after the conch, and leave it behind when they go to see what is going on at the other side of the island. Jack then begins to signal to the audience and the boys that the conch is now useless. It is has no meaning to anyone on the island, specifically his tribe. He indicates this statement by saying, “ You left it behind… and the conch doesn’t count on this side of the island-”(150).This passage from the novel exemplifies how the boys have lost their sense of command and order within one another. The message from the statement made by Jack is guiding the reader to see how each boy is transforming into a more ruthless individual, not caring about any rules or individuals in their lives. With author, William Golding, having the conch’s purpose be lost and forgotten begins to exhibit the children’s loss of reason within one another.

Throughout Lord of the Flies it is clear that the author, William Golding, incorporated lots of symbolism into the text. Three of the main components in the story that symbolized something else were the conch the “beast” and the island. Each of these components developed throughout the text and gave the reader an idea of the main theme in the story.

It being destroyed showed that everything comes to an end and how all of the things they had worked so hard for had been abolished. While stranded on an island with no adults around, it would be hard for anyone to maintain sanity. For young boys like Ralph, civilization and sanity was a difficult thing to maintain. The conch however, was an aid to help them preserve themselves. Whenever the conch was brought into a conversation the boys would stay civilized.

Symbols are important to many people because they are a representation of their individuality. In the novel “Lord of The Flies”, the conch shell is a representation of leadership and the society. The scene where the conch is used to take turns speaking throughout the book is one of the most important scenes. It prevents the tribe from getting out of control, plus it was a great way for them to understand each other. The conch also displays order through the rule that you must have the conch to speak in an assembly or meeting. The reason for this rule is that we can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘hands up’ like at school. Therefore it won’t be messy. At first everyone thinks that this is the best method to maintain order

In the book Lord of The Flies, written by William Golding, a group of schoolboys get stranded on an island after an evacuation plane crashes during a war. The nonfiction story focused on the children trying to survive without any adult supervision. Over the next few months, they encounter strange howls and unknown creatures as they try to live and find help. This spine tingling novel shows characterization, symbolism, and point of view which helps the reader figure out why characters act the way they do, why certain items are used they way they are used, and what some characters are thinking.

The conch is a symbol of authority and power in Lord of the Flies. It was one of the only things that brought order and respect among the boys. The conch being destroyed caused chaos among the boys on the island because of its importance among leadership. Piggy’s glasses were a very ideal part of the story because they represent piggy’s intelligence and reasoning, he was the scientific genius of the group, and his glasses basically show his intelligence in the group. The fire has also been a significant part of the story because, ever since the beginning of the story Ralph has been determined to keep a signal fire going, in case a ship passed by and they could get rescued.

World War II and the Cold War both influenced the story of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and these influences are apparent through plot, the characters, and the theme that order disintegrates over time. The interactions that Jack, Ralph, and Piggy have with the conch and their personal characteristics illustrate the symbolism of order that the conch represents. The conch exhibits that structure disappears and descends to chaos when one distances themselves from society, and is one of the prominent themes of the novel. Piggy is commonly associated with the superego aspect of the human psyche. His involvement with the conch highlights its deeper meaning. Jack, on the other hand, personifies the id, and reacts to the conch much differently. Ralph acts as middle ground between the two. The varying way these boys interact with

The boys are stranded and need some sort of a civilization before everything goes wild. So, they elect ralph as chief and they make a set of rules. The conch is how they call meetings. For one of the meetings, “by the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded” (golding 32). The conch was their only way to assemble. They do not have anything else they can use to communicate. The conch is an easy and simple way to keep order. Without the conch, no one would ever be able to have meetings. Plus, when they have the problem of everyone talking at once, Ralph comes up with a great solution to “give the conch to the next person speaking. He can hold it when he’s speaking… and he won’t be interrupted except by me” (golding 33). Before they started laying out the rules, everyone was talking at once. However, the organization of the conch made a systematic way for everyone to get a chance to speak without everyone talking at once. Everyone else, other than the person holding the conch, is not allowed and almost scared to speak.The conch is such a big part in the rules of the island, there really would not be rules without

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, explores issues involving civilization and savagery. After a plane of British schoolboys crashes on an uninhabited island, they discover items that could benefit them in surviving alone with no adults. They eventually created the meanings behind the items in the way they used them and portrayed them. The three most influential items are the conch, the lord of the flies himself, and … Golding uses these symbols to further his premise that human nature is innately savage even though there is a constant struggle to civilize it.