Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies

The the 1954 book of Lord of The Flies boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash and come in contact with many obstacles during their defer on the island. In William Golding’s book of Lord of the Flies it is crucial to understand the important symbols throughout his book to be able to understand the characters and story development.. Using symbols such as the conch shell, the beast, the knife and Piggy’s spectacles, Golding shows that when humans are taken away from society, they allow for the evil within them to take over. One of the most important symbols in this book is the conch shell. In the story, Piggy and Ralph find a conch shell upon reaching the island. The shell is then used as power to gather the boys together, along

This meant that once the conch shell was blown, then the meeting would start. The conch was then passed around and the only person who could speak was the person holding the conch shell. In the book it says, ‘‘‘I got the conch,”’said Piggy indignantly. “‘You let me speak’”(p.52)! This shows the little respect Piggy received although the conch was his idea. Later, Ralph shouts over the boys, “‘We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that’s a meeting. The same up here as down there’”(p.52). This shows that the boys needed a way back to civilization and rules, a meeting place, and the conch shell gave them a society to be a part of. Each of the boys all want to chief in one way or another, but they vote Ralph as chief because of his leadership qualities. While the conch shows a sense of civilization and society the boys also draw away from it and the island goes through chaos. Golding writes, “Ralph took the conch from him and looked round the circle of boys”(p.52). Each of the boys yearn for everyone to listen to them and follow their rules. As the story progresses, the conch begins to become less important and the boys don’t care about the significance of

In Lord of the Flies Piggy is the one who tries to bring the boys back to society and the rules of the world since they have distanced themselves from civilization. The symbolism behind Piggy’s specs is discovery, civilization, isolation from society and technology. At the beginning of the book when Piggy can see clearly and his glasses haven’t been broken yet the boys still are more responsive to rules, but later on in the book when Piggy’s glasses are used to start the signal fire the boys lose touch with society’s rules. At one of the first meeting they held Piggy decide that they, “can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have 'Hands up' like at school”(pdf.-p.25). This is an example of the boys at the beginning of the book trying to find a way for them to be able to eventually get off the Island, but later on the boys become more troubled with hunting a pig than being rescued and leaving the island. Once Jack created his own tribe with war paint him and his other followers attacked Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric while,” a vicious snarling in the mouth of the shelter and the plunge and thump of living things”(pdf.-p.130). Piggy’s specs are stolen leaving him completely blind. This is an example when the boys completely lost touch with society and the rules of society. Since Piggy’s blind so is the group about working together. After Jack has attacked Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric William Golding writes, “Then