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How Is The Conch Used In Lord Of The Flies

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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. …show more content…

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

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