Lord Of The Flies Conch Symbolism

Lord of the Flies continuously has the conflicts of order versus chaos, following and maintaining connection or falling victim to one's obsession to get authority, and hurting others to obtain it. There are many symbols that represent this conflict. The two major symbols that represent this conflict are the conch shell, symbolizing order and law, and the sow's head, symbolizing savagery. The first of the two major symbols that will represent this conflict is the conch shell. In the book it says, ["S'right. It's a shell! I 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. It's ever so valuable –" (Golding 15)."] The boys grew familiar to the lifestyle of structure and laws set forth by their parents, so when they crashed on the island, Ralph attempted to try and create a similar lifestyle when Piggy and Ralph both finds the conch shell in the water. Ralph uses the advice of Piggy and attempts to use the conch to call the boys for meetings and for right of passage to speak. The conch symbolizes comfort, in the sense that for the younger children that they do not get scared. Rather, the conch helps them stay with what they know, discipline and innocence. The
conch also represents power, the power to speak, the power to elect, and the power to organize the masses. But as the novel goes on, the power of the conch is destroyed, and the boys are gradually controlled by their savageness, to the point were Piggy is killed; the conch is smashed, signifying the total loss of order amongst the boys on the island. This savageness leads the separation of the boys and creates the Beelzebub, the sow's head. The second of the two major symbols that represents this conflict is the sow's head. In the book it says, ["Jack held up the head and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth. He stood back and the head hung there, a little blood dribbling down the stick" (Golding 136-137). The creation of the Lord of the Flies originally was meant to be an offering to the beast, symbolizing to the group that Jack would be able to take care of the beast problem. But Simon soon realizes that the beast is not real, rather it is the beast within them. Simon attempts to alert the others of his discovery, but Simon is killed because Jack said and thought that it was the beast. With the death of Simon, the Jesus figure of the novel, symbolizes the loss of innocence. At this point in the novel, the boys have totally withdrawn themselves from their structured lifestyle, and resorted to animalistic and savagery behavior. The creation of the Beelzebub becomes a symbol of evil and power to control others similar to that of the devil. Although the symbol of the conch had good intentions, the actual effect for some was far different.
Jack, once not elected full leader of the boys, he begins to become cruel, obsessive with the burning desire to be all powerful. The lack of the conch, lack of power, becomes an obsession. He abuses the idea of power by using it to hurt others. For instance, killing Simon and then also killing Piggy. However, Ralph, representing the human desire for, is able to use power wisely, for the good of the group in order to get rescued. Unlike Jack, Ralph does not give into his desire of satisfaction himself with the power, instead he attempts to use the power to help everyone by creating a fire so the smoke could signal a plane or boat for
rescue. Lord of the Flies focuses on the instinct of human beings, innocence or wickedness, and order or chaos. The use of symbols such as the conch and the sow's head helps to create the contrast of good verses evil, taking a positive approach of the ability to create a form of democracy, meetings, and a negative approach, where greed and self-satisfaction seems to better the needs of the others.