The Lord of the Flies Essay
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a great example of how authors can use literary techniques such as symbols to express ideas of human nature. Golding not only uses the boy's personalities as comments on the society of the time but he also gives the boys materialistic approaches to governing their island to mirror their home country.
The first symbol of government in the novel is the conch. The conch is used to show authority. The conch is first used to call the boys together for meetings. Then it is utilized for speaking privileges. Ralph is the first one to use the conch to call a meeting, which automatically makes him the leader among the boys. The boys vote him leader because he is the one who holds the power in his hands, he never actually shows any leadership skills so far in the novel. The boys used a conch to dictate and control the others which makes a comment on how the boys have seen their government control them.
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Ralph makes the decision to have a fire going constantly in order to be seen on the island for rescue. He gives jack and the choir boys the job of keeping the fire going but Jack chooses to go hunt and let the fire go out, meanwhile a ship goes by. The boys were not seen by the ship because the fire went out. Ralph was incredibly upset with Jack and the choir boys. The boys would not have needed the pig they hunted if the fire would have been lit, they would be rescued. The fire symbolizes a priority. The priorities among the kids on the island and the people back home and in other countries may not be as obvious and rational as one would
Here, the conch symbolizes authority and order. “By the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded” (32). From this quote Golding depicts the conch as an authoritative figure. At this point, the boys are willing to follow the conch’s sound. Also, Golding’s depiction of the conch symbolizes order.
When a group of boys are lost on an island, their humanity begins to decline with the loss of power and order within them. The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, was written during WW2. When a group of boys land on an island with no adults, they start to establish roles and create law, but that quickly diminishes. In the novel, the symbol of the conch represents the downfall of society through establishing law, showing who does and doesn’t have power, and the complete loss of power. In the beginning of Lord the Flies, the boys start to organize themselves by establishing a law with the conch.
With the splitting of the boys, comes chaos which leads to the fire having a different purpose. The purpose of the fire is for catching or killing Ralph. This leads to much destruction of the island. The fire's purpose at the beginning of the novel was for survival, and it turns into a weapon that holds the purpose of
Jack and a few other boys were in charge of making sure the fire stayed lit. The boys got obsessed with killing a pig so they left their post to go kill it. As they went, a ship had come by and passed them because the fire had gone out. Ralph got furious with him and after they ate the pig they hunted, he goes and calls a meeting. “With the conch. I’m calling an assembly even if we have to in the dark. Down on the platform. When I blow it. Now.” (75) Then, during the assembly, Ralph speaks and talks about how they need to set things straight and start thinking about how to survive and be more serious about their situation.Ralph says in the beginning, “We need an assembly. Not for fun, Not for laughing and falling off a log-...not for making jokes or for-for cleverness. Not for these things. But to put things straight.” (79) Ralph is really starting to wake up and see the seriousness of their situation and he tried to get the others to see it too besides Piggy who understood way to well. Ralph called the meeting to inform everyone about the situation at hand and that they should take it more seriously, making him a great
The conch, although we see it as an object it has much power. It is used to summon the boys for meetings and whoever holds it has the power to speak. The conch symbolizes power and Ralph who is leader mostly has possession of it. “Immediately the thing sounded. A deep, harsh note boomed under the palms, spread through the intricacies of the forest…”(pg.17). That was the moment Ralph blew the conch and brought all the boys together, making him leader of all the boys. It was a very important part of the story, but there are much more things to discuss.
When the boys first set up the fire, they think that it will just be used for a smoke signal. Ralph, the leader of the group, has a very close connection with the fire. It gives him hope that they will someday
Singer-songwriter Eric Burdon once said, “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, symbols are used to represent a deeper meaning to the novel. Three symbols he used are the conch, the Lord of the Flies, and the island. There are numerous amounts of symbols in the novel, one of them being the conch that Ralph and Piggy found.
This description shows how the conch is the most important attribute to Ralph as it holds the most power and that is why Ralph is seen as the chief. Whoever holds the conch gains power and automatically gets the attention of everyone else on the island, which is demonstrated through the event of acting as a tool to call out other boys. This foreshadows the fact that everyone will look up to Ralph and feel the need to impress him. Within the first few pages of the book, the conch already proves itself to be powerful because it was the reason why this island was established. It also led to the meaning of many important characters who have contributed to running the island.
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
He finds it, is able to use it as a call to gather the boys on the island, and then uses it throughout his chieftain to be able to acquire power and listening of the boys. “Hands were reaching for the conch in light of the setting sun. He held on and leapt on the trunk… ‘You voted me as chief now you do what I say’ … Jack stood scowling in the gloom and held out his hands” (Golding 81). This evidence not only shows the use of the conch as Ralph being the chief, but also the start of tension and power struggle the conch creates between Ralph and Jack. In the end of the book, the conch becomes an attempted item of barter and Ralph tries to use his power against Jack. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). The breaking of the conch and Piggy’s death really pinpoints the exact moment of Ralph's lost hope of any kind of reconciling and or peace between him and Jack. It was the end of playing the “fair
He felt “something purposeful” being done when the conch was sounded;it brought the boys together. Having no adults or holder of command, frightened the boys, but the conch is a sense of comfort and purpose to them. The boys weren’t fearful when the
In the very beginning the conch is used to bring all of the boys in the story together. Ralph blows it and they come. This is the first sign of its power. The boys have been lost and now there is this thing, much like a school bell, calling them to be brought together. It has brought order to this strange place in which they are stranded.
Fire has always been the symbol of civilization since it has been found. Ralph thinks that fire is essential to get rescued and he says, “If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us… We must make a fire” (37). To move on, they start the fire with the hope to be seen by the rescuers. Under Ralph’s leadership the distribution of duties are planned on the island, which is another sign of a civilized society. Jack and the hunters are given the duty to keep the fire on, but instead they go for a hunt and let the fire out.
"No matter the situation never let your emotions overpower your intelligence"(Kushandwizdom). The Lord of the Flies symbolism is expressed all throughout the novel when a group of school boys crashes on an island by themselves. In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the symbolism was made an important of the novel through people and objects. During the Lord of the Flies, the conch and Simon are used to represent symbolism, which Golding shows to represent the downfall that society can input on itself. The conch is one important example of symbolism that is used in the novel.
The conch is all of the boy’s item that can protect them if they are in harm’s way. One way it protects the boys is, if one of the boys were to be lost, Ralph could blow the conch and that boy could hear where Ralph is. Another way would be if a boy was getting attacked by an animal. Ralph could blow it in its ear and the animal would get hurt by the piercing, ear bleeding noise and run