Essay On The Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies

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Satan was once an angel, but he turned to evil as his companion. This topic is expressed in William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. It’s set on a mysterious island where a number of British schoolboys are stranded after their plane unexpectedly crashes there. With no surviving adults, they’re left to care for themselves and create their own civilized society. One of the most important symbols that Golding used in the novel to stand for authority and social order is the conch shell. It holds significant power in conveying civilization on the island and without this symbol, chaos will spread and the society will become a complete anarchy in which the evil within the boys will be revealed. The conch shell first came to be a representation …show more content…

Ralph deals with Simon’s murder by seeking comfort in the symbol, “Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked himself to and fro” (Golding 157). Ralph has come to terms that it no longer has power in keeping a civilized society. Jack and his tribe are not affected by it and are better left to describe it merely as just being a shell. During Ralph and Jack's fight, Roger pushed a huge rock down the cliff in hopes of inflicting harm in whatever stood in it’s way, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). The destruction of the conch represents the death of civilization and order on the island. There’s no going back from it and any chance of surviving has been demolished for anarchy has taken total control. Without this powerful symbol, chaos has spread as the boys turn to evil ruined their chances of living like civilized people.
Civilization and order needs to be established within a society or chaos will spread and the society will become a complete anarchy. William Golding uses a conch shell to symbolize this in his novel Lord of the Flies. The power that it holds gradually declines as the novel develops. The evil and savagery that’s within the boys brought the destruction of the conch to it’s end. The novel’s events that involved this symbol helped with the question of whether evil is present

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