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Lord Of The Flies Conch Analysis

Decent Essays

In WIlliam Golding's Lord of the Flies, the symbol of the conch is used throughout the book to show the movement of power and connection to the civilized world. The reader first sees this depicted at the beginning of the book, Ralph is the perfect candidate for a leader, "yet most powerfully, there was the conch" (22). Simply possessing the conch gives Ralph the supreme aspect of authority over the other, still civilized, boys of the island. In addition, as time drags on the conch becomes more powerful. Piggy was holding "the conch. [He's] got the right to speak" - and only he could speak (45). It gains the power to end things also, "Ralph laid the conch on the trunk beside him as a sign the speech was over" (82). Then, suddenly, the conch

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