Conch Lord Of The Flies Analysis
In the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, symbolism is used effectively to show the main idea that civilisation is used to control savagery within all humans. The symbol of the conch shell mirrors the state of civilisation on the island over the course of the text.
Lord of the Flies depicts the transformation of a group of English school-boys from civilised to savage after their plane crashes on a deserted island during a World War.
At the start of the novel, Ralph, the protagonist, along with Piggy, find the conch shell. Ralph uses the conch to unite the boys by blowing it to call an assembly. As the conch is used to bring the boys together, it becomes a symbol of civilisation on the island. Civilisation is strong amongst the group at first, because the power of the conch is strong; anyone holding the shell has the right to uninterrupted speech. The reader can see that civilisation is strong on the island through the actions of the boys: “… there was a space round Henry … into which he dare not throw. Here, …show more content…
In his essay, Fable, in which he explains in-depth the novel Lord of the Flies, he says, “One of our faults is to believe that evil is somewhere else and inherent in another nation. [But]… one lot of people is inherently like any other lot of people; and… the only enemy of man is inside himself.” This shows that Golding wasn't happy with the way his country treated Germany after the war, and he wanted to show them how savagery is in all humans, and that what happened in Germany could have happened anywhere given the right circumstances. To convey this message, Golding effectively used the conch as a symbol of civilisation in his novel Lord of the Flies, and its demise mirrored that of civilisation on the island to show that civilisation is the only thing controlling the savage impulses within all of
Lord of the Flies depicts the transformation of a group of English school-boys from civilised to savage after their plane crashes on a deserted island during a World War.
At the start of the novel, Ralph, the protagonist, along with Piggy, find the conch shell. Ralph uses the conch to unite the boys by blowing it to call an assembly. As the conch is used to bring the boys together, it becomes a symbol of civilisation on the island. Civilisation is strong amongst the group at first, because the power of the conch is strong; anyone holding the shell has the right to uninterrupted speech. The reader can see that civilisation is strong on the island through the actions of the boys: “… there was a space round Henry … into which he dare not throw. Here, …show more content…
In his essay, Fable, in which he explains in-depth the novel Lord of the Flies, he says, “One of our faults is to believe that evil is somewhere else and inherent in another nation. [But]… one lot of people is inherently like any other lot of people; and… the only enemy of man is inside himself.” This shows that Golding wasn't happy with the way his country treated Germany after the war, and he wanted to show them how savagery is in all humans, and that what happened in Germany could have happened anywhere given the right circumstances. To convey this message, Golding effectively used the conch as a symbol of civilisation in his novel Lord of the Flies, and its demise mirrored that of civilisation on the island to show that civilisation is the only thing controlling the savage impulses within all of