Conch Lord Of The Flies Symbolic Analysis

1187 Words3 Pages

he Fire, the Mask, and the Conch In the novel Lord of the Flies, there is a lot of symbolism “the art or practice of using symbols” as defined by Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary. This story focuses on a group of boys trying to survive on an uninhabited island after their plane crashed, killing all the adults. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are many symbols that are very symbolic and that change throughout the novel. The three main symbolic items in the story are the fire, the mask, and the conch. The first symbol is the fire which Ralph, one of the main characters, is keen on keeping lit.
The first symbol in the novel is the fire and it symbolizes hope and rescue but that feeling slowly distinguishes. Ralph …show more content…

In the first chapter in the novel, Piggy and Ralph just met and see something on the island. They see “Something creamy lay[ing] among ferny weeds, ‘A stone.’ ‘No. A shell.’... Ralph found his breath and blew a series of short blasts.. A child appeared among the palms” (Golding 15,17). This represents order and leadership because Piggy and Ralph are calling others which shows order and they are taking role of who is on the island which also shows order, but also shows they are taking leadership. Once Ralph calls everyone, he holds an assembly or meeting and gets elected leader. Ralph also decides “‘And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.’... ’I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking’” (Golding 33). This shows order and leadership now throughout the group because they all took the time to elect a leader and Ralph suggested a better way for talking to make order on the island more smoothly than everyone talking at once. Towards the end of the novel, Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric go over to Jack’s “tribe” but a tragic event happened. When they were over at the fort, Roger pushed a rock off a ledge and “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from the chin to the knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). This shows that leadership and order have now disappeared because the conch was order and leadership, but after it broke, there was no longer order and Ralph lost his leadership to Jack. After that happened, Jack stabbed Ralph with a spear and had all the boys go after him. Also, Jack lights the whole island on fire now showing he has leadership or command over the boys and that order never existed. Overall, the conch’s meaning changed very suddenly and showed order and

Open Document