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Outline for lord of the flies essay
Essay about the conch shell in lord of the flies
Essay about the conch shell in lord of the flies
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The Conch Vince Lombardi once said,” Individual commitment to a group effort- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Full cooperation and effort are needed to have order and civilization in a society. Golding uses the symbolism of order and civilization through the conch shell found by Ralph and Piggy in the beginning of the novel to reveal the deterioration of civilization/structure on the island. Golding shows the deterioration of civilization on the island beginning with order through the conch, then the conch shell held together whatever civilization was left in the boys, and then finally the conch was destroyed along with Piggy letting savagery run freely on the island. The conch’s main purpose …show more content…
This declination began with order. In Chapter 2, as the children first came together on the island, they established firm standards in rules and order. Golding states,” “That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” … Jack was on his feet. “We’ll have rules!” he cried excitedly. “Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em-“ In this short excerpt from Lord of the Flies, Ralph is describing how the conch system works and Jack is describing an orderly and civilized society that they would live by. The conch was metaphorically the backbone of the society on the …show more content…
When the conch shell was destroyed along with Piggy on Castle Rock, savagery was finally set free on the island. Ralph was the only one left who had not given into savagery. On page 181 Golding says,” The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee: the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. Piggy fell 40 feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea.” In this short excerpt, it is shown that savagery led the boys to kill Piggy. The conch was destroyed along with Piggy signifying the absolute end of civilization and order on the island. All the stages of the role of the conch shell in the story contribute to the ending result of the deterioration of the civilization and order on the
William Golding communicates the idea through Ralph that all the order and goodness of the island is gone when the Conch breaks and how the rest of the boys turned into savages. Golding shows in the novel that, “Samneric were savages like the rest; Piggy was dead, and the conch smashed to powder.” This quote it demonstrates how the other boys took everything from Ralph who was the only person still somewhat civilized. The rest of the boys just follow and let the evil inside consume them. The other boys broke the conch to show how they turned on the only person not evil. The conch broke because they forgot how authority works and the do not listen to anybody and more. Samneric turned to evil also and the only person that wasn’t changed was
Authority plays a vital role in the modern world through contrasting forms of government and the struggle for power between leaders. The leader of a society asserts power over its citizens with the aim to create the laws, which hold the society together. Once authority is demolished within a community, the power spreads to its citizens in which total chaos collectively overtakes the society. The process of law-making and a struggle for power takes precedence in William Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies, through the conch shell found upon the shore. The conch grants superiority to one member of the group over the others, it is used to call assemblies and assists in choosing the speakers during important meetings. When the conch
Everybody respected the conch and what it stood for. There was a point in the book where Jack “laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet,” (Page 127). Jack could have thrown the conch on the ground, but instead he laid it down with great care showing that although he may not want to follow all of the rules, he still respects all of the rules that have been put into place. The conch shell represents the idea that a civilization is able to and most likely in the end will fail, if everybody in the civilization is working together. Towards the end of the book, the conch shell shatters. In the scene, “the rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist,” (Page 181). The rock falling off of the cliff and shattering the conch closely represents every small insignificant issue within their civilization. Essentially, the kids morphed the tiny issues into huge issues which eventually tore their civilization
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.
The conch shell represents democracy, power and stability. When Ralph first discovers the conch shell, Piggy proposes to Ralph that they, “…can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come, when they hear us” (16) and that was the birth of the conch shell. Throughout meetings that are held at the beach, the conch is used as a “speaking stick”. After Jack separates himself from the rest of the tribe, Ralph barges into the camp and attempts to use the conch shell to gather up his former tribe mates. The boys say that th...
civilization can be see through many different forms of symbolism. One of the main forms of symbolism that can represent the theme is the conch shell. The conch shell was found in the very first pages of the novel by Ralph. After he found it, he decided to use it as a form of order and power on the island, almost like a form of government. Ralph’s leadership was determined when the group of boys had a meeting about who should lead them. In the novel, Piggy says, “We can use this to call others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us —” (Golding 16). From this quote, it can be shown that the shell is the main source that brings the boys together, ultimately showing the authority that the shell has and the order that it brings to the civilization of the boys. However, when Jack and Ralph begin to clash heads it slowly bring the power and authority of the shell to an end. “You haven’t got it with you,” said Jack, sneering. “You left it behind. See, clever? And the conch doesn’t count at this end of the island—” (Golding 150). From this quote, one could tell that the conch shell is losing its authority and order that it brings to the island. Not only that, but the shell also portrays how the island is no longer
When the boys arrive at the island after a plane crash, they are forced to find a way to keep everything in order and under control. “At first they delight in their freedom and in their pleasure of the island”( Saidi, Hasan1). Then the boys begin to explore, Ralph and Piggy find a conch shell on the beach. When Ralph and Piggy first see the shell Piggy says "S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable--" (Golding15). They use this shell as a symbol of how fragile order and democracy is. The sound from the shell gathers all the boys together after the plane crash. The plane crash seperated them in th...
Roger’s simple and swift destruction of the conch shows how quickly savagery can destroy civilization. Golding uses the conch in this scene to symbolize civilization and how fragile it is. Piggy’s abrupt death and the destruction of the conch bring to a conclusion all efforts to achieve any kind of civilization on the island. “See? See? That’s what you get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone–”. (Jack pg. 181)
Golding uses the conch shell to display the idea that without rules in society, there will be lots of chaos. The conch is a symbol of authority and lack of communication. When holding the conch shell, Ralph decides: “Ill give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking” (Golding 33). The boys knew that they needed to have some sense of authority and structure within themselves so they used the conch shell to portray who had authority at the time. It is used as a speaking tool; whichever boy was in possession of the conch in that particular moment was the one who was allowed to speak. This system of individualistic decision-making did not turn out to be something that worked out for the best. The conch was not the only semi-controlling decision they made; they also wanted to have one selected person to be in charge. When discovering early chaos and a sense of disorganization, Ralph says: “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 32). The boys need to figure out a way to be organized and try to create in a sense, a government to run things smoothly on the island. They decide to elect a “chief” to be in charge of things. The conch shell symbolizes a sense of authority in the group and helps the boys decide ...
The conch also brought order to the boys on the island. “We’ll have rules” “I’ll give the conch to the person next to me. He can hold it when he’s speaking.”(33). Without adults they were forced to create rules for themselves because order would have to be kept on the island until they were saved. At their school order was everything and they wanted to keep that order and thought of safety. The conch gave them a feeling of home and hope of getting off the island.
This conch is the only connection to the order and rules of the boys’ past lives, as there is no other influence on them in the isolated natural state of the island. Golding’s readers are able to see the boys’ return to their innate savagery as they increasingly reject all that the conch represents. When the shell finally ceases to exist, cruel savagery and terrorizing fear take over the island. Their inherently savage selves are finally
Golding uses the conch shell, which Ralph and Piggy find, to demonstrate a source of leadership and order within the civilization. As the conch becomes a source of authority and assembly, it “becomes no less than the basic challenge to the Tribe to choose between democracy and anarchy, civilization and savagery” (Gregor). As order decreases within the civilization the boys are forced to choose between Ralph, who symbolizes order, and Jack, who symbolizes savagery and chaos. The boys quickly join forces with Jack, which is their first step of their decline into savagery. One of their final falls into savagery was when Roger rolled the boulder into Piggy and “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). By the conch breaking, order on the island was completely gone and the physical violence began to increase as chaos started to occur. In Kathleen Woodward’s article, “On Aggression: William Golding’s Lord of the Flies,” Woodward says that “children require strict supervision and constant discipline, for without these, they pose a serious threat to the adult world” (Woodward). As the rules for the adult world were made to keep order so were the rules and tasks that Ralph had assigned. Rules are cru...
The conch was the final representation of society, and with its destruction it shows the final transformation from a well-mannered group of boys into a group of savages. The conch shell was found by Ralph and Piggy in the first chapter of the book and was instantly used as a horn to call an “assembly”. Ever since the conch was used the first time it was always a vital role in the book, bringing together the boys in many situations Up until the very end of the book the conch shell serves as a glue for their civilization, being a vital part not only in calling all of the boys’ meetings, but also during them with it acting as a “hot seat” where if whoever had the conch shell was the one doing the talking. Despite all of this the conch was still destroyed by a member of Jack’s following,Roger. Roger had been very sadistic during the entire book, and this was at the peak of savagery in the book. “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you any more! The conch is gone—” . With the conch being destroyed the boys’ ties to civilization are completely gone revealing the truth that Golding attempted to communicate in his book; True human nature is
The conch represents order on the island, as it is what brings the group together throughout the majority. So it would be logical to say that the breaking of the conch (181) shows how all social order is lost, which is why the boys go on to kill Piggy and try to kill Ralph without guilt or shame. The boys need this catalyst to bring them together as a civilization with social order .Ralph’s character as a whole is similar in this regard. Ralph represents order on the island because he is the main person trying to uphold it, he constantly tries to make the civilized and orderly decisions for the group. Therefore, it could be stated that Ralph’s loss of control over the boys (148-154) represents how the group loses social order as well. The boys need social order to guide them to make the right and civilized decisions. Lastly, the navy sailor that arrives to rescue the boys at the very end of the story. The arrival of this sailor represents the return of social order and civilization on the island. This is implied by Golding from the reactions of the boys, they cry and sob due to the sudden realization that they’ve all been committing horrible acts. All of these symbolisms in the story show how Golding is trying to imply that man needs social order to truly feel the weight of his/her
The author made it known that the boys needed structure, the conch gave them order, but it soon loss the effectiveness that it had on the boys. Over time, the conch began to lose its power, without the power of the conch the boys turned into savages. The order on the island had completely been loss as if it never existed. Golding uses different symbols throughout the story to relate to many real life situations that were taking place at the time.