The Conch In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

This carelessness for the conch was shown when Jack raided Ralph’s area of the island. Piggy later expressed that “‘they didn’t come for the conch’”(168). This showed that the conch clearly meant nothing to the boys and their savage leader, who only cared about killing and eating. The conch barely meant anything to Ralph as well, because his only followers were the twins and Piggy. Not a lot of power was needed over them.

The conch was initially used to gather the scattered survivors on the islands. After the reunion, the boys decide to bring back the old society's authorities by listing rules that are to be followed, and that the conch eventually elects their first leader - Ralph.

“And what about the fire? And I’ve got the conch -” Ralph had to be respected and listened to because he was the one chosen, so none of them couldn’t complain. This interprets the conch destruction because Ralph was the boys weren't listening to ralph anymore with or without the conch. They weren’t respecting Ralph or the conch. The fact that they weren’t listening made Ralph mad because This explores the idea that instinct destroy innocence because the fact that Ralph had the most power since he had been chosen when this happened he automatically thought to himself that he was chief and that they all have to listen to what he says.

In the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the conch is a motif for the boys stuck on the island. It plays the role or power and civilization. The conch shell goes from being the most important thing on the island to nothing. As the book progresses the conch loses its power.

From Lord of the Flies, there were many things like Conch and Fire that symbolized something. One of the most important symbols was the Conch. The Conch, which is a big shell that can be seen at the beach symbolizes many things in the Lord of the Flies. The Conch represents power because it once was able to control the boys with it, and it also symbolizes democracy because of anyone who has their ideas and can speak their thoughts. The Conch represents unity because it was used to call an assembly and was used to put the boys and keep the peace between the boys so nobody would fight with each other. So, the conch is an important symbol in the novel, because it represents power, democracy, and unity.

In the fictional novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, a group of young English boys get stranded on an island while trying to flee from war. The boys try to maintain order and create a society in order to keep things under control while waiting for rescue. As time passes, things fall apart and they quickly become out of control, straying from their once orderly, civilized ways. In the Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the symbol of the conch to show the boys descent from civilized to savage behavior.

In the allegory Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding uses the conch and Ralph to symbolize the importance of managing authority and good leadership to maintain a civilization. Due to Ralph’s leadership, he is able to determine, with the help of Piggy, their way of communicating their ideas using the conch when Ralph says, “That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak to. He can hold it when he’s speaking”(Golding 33). The conch helps with the order and organization of how their society would be run, as well as how they could share their ideas equitably.

The conch loses its power to Jack and all that symbolises rule by force. As mentioned before, Jack openly disregards the conch and the power it gives. Because of this event, we can see that the conch is starting to lose its power. In addition, Jack does not care for the conch even if he can have it. We see this when Jack

For a few days the boys run wild over the island. Ralph steps up and tries to set up things to try and bring civilization back into the group. “If we have a signal going, they’ll come and take us off. And another thing we thought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that’s where we're meeting. The same up here as down here”(Golding 42). Ralph know that there a lot of chaos going on right now and he needs to make rules faster before it gets out of hand. One of the first one’s was the conch. Ralph made this item important to the whole group, giving it significant value. Where the conch is at, that’s where the meeting will be held because he will blow the shell really loud so everyone can hear it. To add on to this idea, I have another quote that is similar to the lasts idea about the conch. “Whoever holds the conch gets to speak”(Golding ). This shows that Ralph wants others to have their opinion too, but not all at the same time screaming at each other. This alouds everyone to have it say because if you have the conch everyone must listen and wait to say everything until they get the conch. Ralph is trying his best to try and get the boy’s civilized again by setting up rules that everyone must

After Jack’s tribe gains power, and the boys embrace their inner savages, the value of the conch subsided. When Jack and his tribe apparted from Ralph’s group, they began to disobey all of Ralph’s rules that they set for the island, including the conch. Although Jack knew that Ralph was the leader of the island, he decided he could violate the conch’s purpose. Golding showed to his readers how Jack was ignorant of the value of the conch by having Jack say, “‘Conch! Conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things,’” (Golding 101-102). Ralph became furious at Jack for not obeying the power of the conch. Their groups now became segregated. Later, Ralph and Piggy were arguing against Jack’s tribe at the Castle Rock, and Ralph has witnessed something he wishes he never had to see. What he saw was the horrifying death of Piggy, who was holding the conch in his arms, which got demolished as well. When boys went full savage, they go forward and “the rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exit” (Golding 181). The conch shell was first an essential to the unity and value for the boys when they first arrived on this island. Now they have not only lost the conch, but Piggy as well.

Some actions made my individuals not only has an effect on the people around them, but the objects close by as well. This important object or sign, can all be based upon the people using it, and also be in relation to its environment and surroundings. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding uses a conch shell to represent different meanings throughout his novel. The message in each of the different meanings of the conch, show how a group of young, British boys are changing their behavior and personality deeper into the novel. The conch in the Lord of the Flies, begins as a sign of authority, becomes a symbol of disorganization, and concludes to transform into a weapon of death.

At the first meeting everyone was talking over each other. Ralph decides to “... give the conch to the next person to speak… and he won't be interrupted” (33). This gives everyone a chance to talk and share their ideas if they so choose. It gives a voice to the small childrens and establishes democracy with equal representation. Unfortunately, as the boys begin to grow into savages, they lose sight of democracy as seen by the way they treat the conch. During a meeting in which the boys discuss the importance of maintaining a fire, Piggy holds the conch but is constantly ignored as the other boys tell him to shut up despite his yelling of “The conch. I got a right to speak… Just you listen!” (45). This shows a loss of democracy as the conch no longer gives the holder the right to speak. The boys are beginning to become tyrants and beasts as they no longer believe in a voice for all. They feel that the only opinions that matter are those of a select

They all participated with the conch. As Ralph and Jack have fifty percent leadership each. They have all the power over the conch. Their goal was to control the fire, food, and have everyone in control. They are the ones that can speak first or over take it. However Ralph has a bit more power because during the voting for leader, Ralph won until he felt bad and offered his opponent Jack half. Jack is eager to make rules and punish those who break them, although he consistently breaks them him self when he needs to further his own interest. As jack with half of the leadership, he is in charge of the hunters. This being one of his main interests, it begins with the desire of meat and builds to the overwhelming urge to master and kill other living creatures. The conch was also associated with Piggy. Piggy was the one that discovered it with Ralph. Piggy was the one who showed Ralph how to blow it and recognized what shell the conch was.” S’right, it’s a shell! I had 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. Its ever so valuable.” Also, it seemed that piggy and the conch were linked together because in a way, they died at the same time. When the conch was destroyed, the tribe-civilized world has also become wrecked. One of the boys was killed by a fire, which got out of control and swept through the island. More causes had occurred

After the boys were marooned on the island, each was alone and unaware of the presence of the other boys. Ralph discovered the conch shell along with his new companion, Piggy. They identified the conch and blew it to bring forth any boys surviving the crash. He continued to blow the conch until, “The sand...concealed many figures in its miles of length” (Golding 18). As the newly discovered children gathered together, order was established throughout the tribe due to the effectiveness of the conch, and the leadership of Ralph. At this point, people obeyed the conch and followed the rule that allows the holder to speak freely. Grudgingly, the people listened to the chief to keep themselves alive, because he was a person of confidence and leadership. However, over time, this motivation slowly started to decrease and the rules were less obeyed. Therefore, the discovery of the conch symbolizes the discovery of order on the island. This is shown because once society starts to fall apart, so does the obedience to the conch.

Throughout both worlds, of reality and literature, an object can represent multiple ideas on a literal and theoretical implication. In William Golding’s Lord Of the Flies, the conch and many other objects are used as symbols to further establish the understanding of the story. The conch, originally discovered by Ralph and Piggy, was unintentionally used to signal the other survivors on the island. It was a physical shell whilst acting as a symbol for unity throughout the novel. In reality, accessories used to represent the idea of unity are wedding ring exchanged in a ceremony of marriage.