The Conch In Lord Of The Flies Essay

For many readers , Lord of the Flies had some peculiar symbols throughout the story that advanced many readers to have a better connection with the book . Although, there are innumerable symbols involved in the novel , it’s come to the conclusion that the biggest symbol of the novel was in fact the conch . The author, William Golding , made this very clear because it was used throughout the whole story as if it was paramount and he wanted it to catch the reader’s attention . The conch had an important role which was social order, respect and power. When the boys hold meetings around the campfire at night , only the speaker who is holding the conch may address and speak to the crowd . When Piggy and Ralph discovered the conch shell it
then became a powerful symbol of civilization and order in the novel as well . Meanwhile , in the book Ralph blows the conch and many other kids his age and younger appear in front of him . They all wanted some type of organization of a leader . So they conversated to vote for a chief .As a result,, Ralph had competetion with Jack, since he was head of the choir , it was threatening to Ralph . On the other hand, this also helped the vote for Ralph to be chief just because he was the one with the conch . "Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph ! Let him be chief with the trumpet thing" ( 22 ) . So as you see from this textual evidence, you can infer that the conch is a sort of ‘dominance as a leader’ as well a symbol of essential use. In this regard, the shell is more than a symbol, it is an actual vessel of diplomatic power.
As the island erodes and the boys break off into savagery, the conch shell loses its power and influence over them. Ralph clutches the shell desperately and desolately when he talks about his role in murdering Simon. Later, the other boys ignore Ralph and throw stones at him when he tries to endeavor to blow the conch in Jack’s camp. The boulder that Roger rolls onto Piggy also crushes the conch shell, "The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." ( 255 ). Indicating the quietus of the instinct on almost all the boys that lived on the island. By the time the conch is destroyed, the boys world had become unglued and scattered. One of the boys was killed by a fire which got out of control and started chaos that swept through the island. More death and issues Purse. Controlling fire, food and the higher ground on the island are the goals of Ralph and Jack. They need to be able to control all of these things in order to keep their power over the group and maintain some resemblance of an organized society.
In conclusion, the conch was the biggest symbolism in this book. The conch tells the whole story just by the beginning. There are other symbols in the novel, yes. But none of these symbols have the potential of creating a theme and there own tone just as the conch did. It empowered and controlled every person in the novel. Furthermore, that’s
how the conch is symbolic.