William Golding Lord Of The Flies Conch Analysis

“There are at least 2,225 child offenders serving life without parole sentences in U.S prisons for crimes committed before they were age 18” The statistical data shows that not only are the murderous thought of children being acted upon, but that children have thoughts about evil, heinous crimes. 2,225 children have taken away one or more lives. Has anyone ever thought of the total number of child murders in the whole world? Out of how many children in the world have committed similar crimes in their young years, and then are lead to become full fledge murderers in the adult years? How many child murderers never get caught, or have someone taking the fall for them? We may never know, however in The Lord of the Flies the author William Golding
creates an estimation of just how many children would be murderers if the laws and punishments were never invented because of the evil and darkness inside them. Although Golding creates many characters in this book that have committed crimes that they wouldn’t have done in a civilized world, the character that has the most symbolic meaning to evil is Roger. Even though Golding has Roger create violent scenarios such as the violent stabbing of Simon, or the maniacal killing of the sow, Goldings true meaning goes deeper than that of the crimes, but as Rogers being as a whole.
While most people when looking for an object that represents the most most importance, they immediately think of something other than people. People aren’t the usual first thought when on the topic of symbolism; however, when Golding is trying to relay his message that, “evil is inside of us, we are just bounded back by the laws and regulations of society” he uses a person, or more so a character. The character in which can be the only true symbolism of Golding’s great idea is Roger. Not only was Roger a pivotal part in Lord of the Flies, but most tragedies that happen inside this book would not have happened if it weren’t for his sadistic personality and nature. His personality and nature in this book showed the true testimony of man, and just how evil a person will be when everything is stripped away. One of the most thought of symbols in Lord of the Flies is the conch.
And the conch is a magnificent symbol if you were to see it as the world of civilization as we know it. The conch calls all the meetings, it give you the power to speak, and in most cases it is a way to get respect. However it is not the most important symbol, because of the fact that it does not relay Goldings main message. And if it doesn’t wholly relay the message it can’t be that important of a symbol. A symbol should make the reader believe that its value in the story and in symbolism is pivotal and necessary to the story because without it, the story would not turn out the way it was. the only truly important symbol that would change the whole book is that of that of Roger. Roger is the amenity of all Golding’s messages, so how could one look over such an important character, almost as if his existence on the island was next to
zero. Once again Golding throws in another major, but not top symbol, which is that of the glasses in which Piggy is forced to wear because of the near blindness without them. The glasses can be represented as foresight, and be thought of as the only way the boys of the island can see clearly and as the one and only ways they stay connected with the civilized world. And once those glasses break, everything humanity has ever worked for will come crashing down. The glasses could have been the most important, if it were not for Golding’s message. If his message were to have been changed to something else along the lines of, “without foresight and clarity the world will turn to ruins” the glasses would have been ideal. And while the glasses do have a large meaning to the book and it’s meaning as it is, Rogers sadistic attitude once again trumps the symbolic list. “Let’s have a vote.” Such a simple phrase with so much power. If it were not for Roger saying that, the island might have been at peace throughout this whole book. When he said it, it was almost clearly decided that Jack would be the chief, but once he said that, everyone got a choice in who would lead. Once the almost title of Leader got ripped away from Jack, is when the tension between Jack and Ralph broke out. Why would one want to start a fueling battle between leaders, if it wasn’t for joy for himself to see the rivalry eventually take over the island and become the leading cause of all the deaths. The essence of evil is not necessarily in one’s actions, but by the way that they carry themselves, by the way that they act and think when nobody's watching them. You may find that the nicest person in public can be the epitome of all things ruthless and evil. “Roger lead the way straight through the castles, kicking them over,” When Roger does this, it is almost as if he is overcome by the freedom of no rules, this could be considered his first actual crime, and that can be thought of as the starting point for his murderous and torturing ways. He felt the sense of no one watching and it took control of his urges that he had always control in normal life, so in a way Roger was breaking out of his shell and turning to his true self. He kicks them over not because he simply wasn’t watching where he was going, but he did this act because of the lack of rules and freedom of expressing the evilness inside him because of no adults or consequences for his actions. “One piglet, with a demented shriek, rushed into the sea trailing Roger’s spear behind it.” During the hunt for the sow when everyone was simply looking for meat to eat, Roger was looking for the sadistic joy he gets when hurting others. He was finding certain pinpoints that would cause joy to him, and one happened to be the piglet. In most cultures killing a child is seen as a more heinous crime than that of other murders. Only the resemblance between Roger and darkness can be the explanation for such a monstrous crime of killing a “child”. “When Roger opened his eyes and saw him, a darker shadow crept beneath the swarthiness of his skin; but Jack noticed nothing.” Roger, seeming at peace when he was “asleep” could possibly make him seem as though he were a normal boy and that he weren’t the epitome of evil. However if he were a “normal” boy the shadow would not have crept upon his face, but since he is all things truly evil, his darkness came back from the once at peace boy. And when the darkness came back it seemed multiple times worse than before because of the circumstances in which he was returned to his dark nature. When he was calm, it wasn’t him that was calm. It was the evil within him letting him have a peaceful moment that he might not have experienced without being asleep. “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.” In the moment that leads up to him pushing the rock seems to be his final “sane” moment in this book. Every moment after he pushes the rock off seems as though he has totally lost control of his some what self control. Every hesitated action he committed throughout the book led to this moment. even though he took part in killing Simon it wasn’t fully upon his shoulders. After the murder of Piggy he has no remorse whatsoever shown, it's as though the whole this was unreal or never even happened at all. He lost all control of the war that may have been waging inside of him. He let the evilness of man’s nature take over 10x more powerful than it would have in a civilized world, because on the island there were no rules, right?
“Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority.” Throughout the whole book, Rodger's actions have been leading up to the moment everything snaps. If anyone were to reflect on the book after they read it, they would most likely see that if Roger was completely ceased from existing in this book, then the island might be at peace. And now toward the end of the book, he had made enough courage, not only to make the life of one cease to exist, but to more break out of his nervous shell and inflict unnecessary pain on others. He advances on Samneric in a way that leaves little room in one's imagination to wonder what happened to them.
“Roger sharpened a stick at both both ends” The stick that Roger sharpens can be taken in multiple ways, not only can it be thought of as a worse way to kill some, or humiliating someone's death just like the sow, but it can also show just how demented someone's mind is.
To have thought of something as evil and inhumane as having a stick sharpened at both ends must be the work of not just the evil inside, but also the work of the “Lord of the Flies” inside of Roger. What would Roger have done if no one was watching, or if he ever got the chance to use the stick on another living being?
The total numbers of death on the island at the end of the book is 3, but how many would have died if they weren’t saved? How many people in the real world would die if there were no rules? Would the world travel back to the time where everyone was savages? Would reverting back be due to the desperation of people or because the evil is taking over due to the
freedom?