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Lord of the Flies Summer Essay They thought their society was stable; they thought it would last. It all started with the conch shell that gathered them. In the book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys became nomads on an island causing them to take on the biggest challenge of their lives, survival. The traits for a successful survivalist would include cooperation, maturity and responsibility. But if they can’t achieve those traits they will crash, causing chaos on the island. Leadership and unity came hand and hand on the island of pig on a stick. One of the most important symbols in the book was the conch. The conch represented their civilization. Who knew one blow of a horn could could change everything, “the conch against his lips, took a deep breath and blew once more” (Golding 17). The boys listened to the sound of the conch and gathered. One by one they would file in and say their names, then came Jack. …show more content…
One way he had trouble was showing his innocence and not being naive. Ralph being himself not know which step to take closer to civilization fell, tripping over himself by one action “lugged off his shorts and pants and stood there naked” (Golding 10). This shows immaturity because his clothes symbolized all the laws and rules he followed and breaking away from them; Now Ralph is completely free and uncontrolled. This was a bad move on Ralph’s part because that shows the other boys they can break away and do their own thing. Very much the same as when Jack tore away from the rest of the group when he wanted a dictatorship instead of a democracy. The immaturity was spreading on the island like a disease because of the unlawfully savage of a leader, Ralph. In perspective Piggy should have been leader because he was the only one to still believe in the world they once lived in because he kept his clothes
Throughout the novel when Ralph notices some of the boys have started to turn into savages, he tries to put an end to it as soon as possible. Ralph wants the young boys to remain as close to their old selves as much as they can, rather than transforming into unrecognizable people. Once the boys have gotten somewhat settled in on the island, they forget to watch after the most important job, as seen in Ralph’s eyes, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there might be a ship out there” (Golding 42). The majority of the group has turned to having fun rather than getting rescued. Ralph is one of the only people that has common sense and seems to know their correct priorities. We can see that choosing Ralph to be the leader may lead to benefiting them all. In chapter 11, Jack and his group have bombarded Ralph’s group and stolen Piggy’s glasses, so when Piggy asks what they are going to do, Ralph responds with, “Supposing we go, looking like we used to, washed and hair brushed- after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game--” (Golding 170). Ralph ends up handling this given situation like an adult. He can see quite clearly that the thought of salvation and maturity has no meaning to everyone in Jack's’ group. They have been treating their whole situation like it is just a game, but Ralph knows at this point that rescue is
In Lord of the Flies, there is a theme that runs throughout the book that relates to a historical instance that changed society. Throughout the book there is a power struggle between Jack and his hunters and Ralph, the Littluns and Piggy. Jack represents a dictatorship and Ralph and the others want a democracy where everyone’s opinion and vote matters. This correlates with the civil war times, when the North wanted freedoms and equality for all people and the south wanted to dictate how others lived. Jack represents the oppressive southern states that wanted to rule over the black Americans. Ralph represents the northern states that wanted a democracy where everyone’s ideas mattered.
Generally speaking, the conch has represented democracy and collectiveness throughout the novel. Golding uses the conch to highlight many different ideas in the book by setting the story on an island, which is a microcosm of the entire world and the world that the boys lived in before encountering the fateful crash of the plane. The group of boys encounter problems which, even on this island, they are unable to escape from. It is important to remember that at the same time, there is a nuclear war taking place. The ‘long scar’ that ‘smashed into the jungle’ implies that the island has already been ruined permanently. It seems as though the attempt to remove the boys from a war-filled world has failed because the island is already contaminated by the crash of the plane, which was shot down by an enemy plane, this is somewhat related to warfare. The boys now need to survive on the island and this causes problems revolving around social order, as there are no adults present. In that case, some of the problems are attempted to be resolved by using the conch.
Ralph was starting to notice all the differences between night and day. He realized his choices don't only have an affect on that moment but affect every moment after it. Ralph was very scared and for a moment he thought Piggy should be chief. “He could go step by step inside that fat head os his only Piggy was no chef. But Piggy for all his ludicrous body had brains.”(78) As Ralph was starting to question if he was fit to be chief he thought of Piggy and how intelligent he is. Although Piggy is intelligent he doesn't have the ‘look’ to be a chief. Today's society has a specific way of thinking we want our leader to look like a leader. With Piggy's intelligent mind he knows how the boys should live but they don't like to think that way and Piggy was not happy about what they were becoming.Piggy decided to tell the boys how he felt and thought about them in a rhetorical way. “‘Which is better to be a pack of painted indians like you are or to be sensible like ralph is?...which is better--to have laws and agree or to hunt and kill?’” (180) Piggy didn't change his mindset from the beginning of the book to the end. He believed that they needed rules and laws. In the beginning he was a timid boy who did not like speaking in front of the boys and only told ralph about his thoughts but towards the end of the book you saw his personality become more open
“Two shelters were in position, but shaky. This one was a ruin. ‘And they keep running off. You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?’” This quote from the book Lord of the Flies is the starting point in the separation of the two main lifestyles exhibited on the island. The two options were to maintain civilization and follow the conch, or to get reckless and take the form of savagery. The choice was very difficult to some, but to others it was a very simple decision. Each lifestyle contained many differences and also a few similarities. The way each lifestyle represented the boys who followed it, the many dangers each had to encounter, and the end result of survival are the three
Ralph won the vote, but after he found out the type of person jack was, he has been scared to lose the spot to be the leader and have jack take control. “However, as the group gradually succumbs to savage instincts over the course of the novel, Ralph’s position declines precipitously while jack’s rises. Eventually, most of the boys except Piggy, leave Ralph’s group for Jack’s, and Ralph is left alone to be hunted by Jack’s tribe.” this means that the boys were tempted to leave Ralph and let Jack lead them. He knew if jack was to take control, bad things would happen, then all of the kids would turn on
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents a conch shell representing the order of civilization. He uses this symbol to effectively portray the theme that humans are inherently evil and have savage desires, shown through the decline from discipline and peace among the boys on the deserted island. In the novel, civilization directly correlates to the boys’ past lives in England. Before coming to the island, there were adults present who maintained order by enforcing rules and punishing those who did not follow them. However on the island, the conch, representing this society, is a powerful object that demands the respect of the boys in a similar way that the adults do. As time passes, the conch’s influence over the boys weakens and ultimately all forms of civilization are rejected.
Dimetria Hathaway English 10B January 25, 2016 Lord of the Flies Analysis In Lord of the Flies a group of six to twelve year olds are stranded on an island with no adults leaving them to fend for and govern themselves. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding uses a conch and pig head to show the unity and decay of a civilized society. The conch in LOFT represents a controlled, civilized society. “We can’t have everyone talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school… Then I’ll give him conch,” [33]. This shows how Ralph is using the conch to try to create rules, respect, and order. The conch is being used to indicate who is allowed to talk, creating the first rule of the society and mimicking civilized. Without the conch the boys would be talking over one another and wouldn’t be able hear
There are events in everyone’s lives that alter them forever. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 4 boys in particular leave the island completely separate from the person they were when they arrived. Life after being stuck on a stranded island with no adults and losing sense of societal norms is not easy. Young and impressionable, Ralph, Jack, and Samneric will never be the same after seeing first hand what beast lies within everyone.
Some people would look at a gold chain as just a piece of jewelry, but simple things as a gold chain can symbolize much more in literature. Symbolism is used by some of the best writers, as it gives the reader a much deeper meaning and makes the reader think more sagacious. Likewise, in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the loss of stability and control is represented by symbols. For example, the conch Ralph and Piggy find helps represent order and civilization but later represents the end of civilization, as it is shattered. As well, hunting is used to symbolize the transition into savagery, as the boys begin to lose their civilized manner. Lastly, Piggy’s glasses being stolen illustrates the loss of intellect and rational thought,
The conch is represented as government in Lord of the Flies, we see how uncivilized humans are and easy can break the rules. The conch is very precious, fragile, high cost and it is beautiful. William Golding quotes “In color the shell deep cream, touched here and there with fading pink’’(Golding16).William Golding is describing how beautiful the conch is and how it looks and the colors the describe it. Also, the conch for the children is very precious for the value it carries in the island and very powerful for its appearance. Jack has hatred for Ralph because he is chief and has the conch that has all, the power which means that Jack has no power others and has to persuade them being hunters and making himself look good to others. An example
“Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.” Ayn Rand. In his novel “Lord of the Flies” British author, William Golding uses the conch and the beast to show the loss of innocence. When their plane crashes into a tropical deserted island the boys have to find a way to survive without adults. Ralph is elected chief and tries to maintain a similar lifestyle to what they have left behind, but the addition of rules makes the island savage. The conch and the beast, as symbols, are equally important in “Lord of the Flies” because of the civilization versus savagery, fear, and the
The Nobel-prize winning novel Lord of the Flies explores the woes of young boys stranded on an uninhabited island, battling themselves and their surroundings for survival. This particular group of boys, ranging from the ages of six to twelve, plane crashes and they end up stranded with no supervision or rules. They must govern themselves. Choosing a leader and making rules was quite simple for the newly founded society, but keeping and obeying the rules proved more difficult than it was cut out to be. The conch they find on the island is looked upon as the most precious and important object in their society, but as time passes, it is overlooked and abandoned. Same goes for the fire and Piggy’s specs, important to their society at one moment,
However, at the end of the book, he simply stood for a common human being. In the beginning of the story, before a formal introduction, Ralph was described simply as “a fair boy.” This already sets him out in a favorable light. Then it further describes how he is apparently good-looking and has the natural air of leadership. Of course, the conch played a big role when the kids voted him for leader, but his appearance played a large role as well. For the good first part of the book, Ralph has always symbolized leadership. As the story progresses and the kids became more and more distant from the idea of civilization, Ralph became more like a representation of common sense. Golding wrote, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” At this part, Ralph criticized Jack for not doing the necessary civilized things in favor of quenching his thirst for a hunt. As more and more of the kids become more and more uncivilized, Ralph became one of the last voices of common sense. When Simon and Piggy died, Ralph was the last one who retained that common sense and yearned for civilization. He had no leadership powers left anymore, and he stood for nothing more than a
and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and