How Is Power Shown In Lord Of The Flies

On an uninhabited island, with the absence of sources to survive, one would find themselves facing the lack of power and control. Power is the ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. It can come in the form of a person or a particular item. In Lord of the Flies, a group of young school boys crash on an island with no adult guidance. With no rules or much of an authority to command the group, they go out of control. Very little is done to keep them orderly, and the boys become slaves of the objects they did not even recognize. These objects affect the way the boys behave and whether or not they can maintain organization for their survival. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, three symbols of

power take control of the boys. They are the greatest sources of conflict in the story and the result of their ironic rescue. The conch, Piggy’s glasses, and the boar's head all contribute to the high power that is on the island.
Objects of power are introduced very early in the novel. The conch shell is introduced in the very beginning and is used to call the scattered boys to one spot. Due to this initial action, the boys now see it as a call to order. They create rules to go along with it, giving the holder the right to speak. With these rules the conch is respected, “ they obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority” (59). The boys are drawn to the conch to the point that whenever it is blown into, they will rush to it’s source. But they are also drawn to it because Ralph is the one to blow it, and he is the elected leader. A chief with the conch creates a leadership and system of power. Although they had no real adult, they felt they received a sense of protective authority from Jack. This dominance over the boys is given by the conch. The shell is a symbol for the power and organization that the boys discreetly desire. Throughout the story to conch continues to be a representation of management, and when it is destroyed, so is the order on the island. At the time of Piggy’s death, “ the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). When the conch breaks, the order breaks. At this point in the novel is when the story takes a dark, chaotic turn. This also proves the power that the conch has. The shell represents both power and organization, it holds over the boys on the island.
Fire is one of the most valuable sources an individual can have while stranded. The boys decide that their way of survival is to build and keep a fire going. The only way they keep the fire going is by using the glass in Piggy’s glasses, the second most powerful object on the island. At the beginning, we see this first bloom as an issue among the boys when they first attempt to build another signal fire, “ Then to his surprise, Ralph went to Piggy and took the glasses from him... while Ralph knelt and focused the glossy spot. Instantly the fire was alight, Piggy held out his hands and grabbed the glasses back” (73). Piggy is the owner of the glasses, but does not yet seem to realize how much power they hold. Although he frequently will protect them and refuse to give them to anyone. This control that the glasses have on them, are one of the contributing factors that split the boys into two tribes. With dominance being held in the holder of the glasses, war almost breaks out. During the divide of the groups, Jack and his tribe of hunters storm Ralph and the littluns huts, beating them, but, “ They didn't come for the conch. They came for something else... From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (168). Jack’ group did not come to start a fight, instead they came for one of the most powerful items on the entire island. Now with the specs, his group could control the fire. Controlling the fire, entitles them to the possibility of survival.
Fear is also a form of power on the island.

It is best represented in the boar’s head that the hunters proudly stick in the middle of the jungle. The head, or the Lord of the Flies, relates to the beast, which controls the fear and division of the two groups of boys on the island. Fear was a big point of conflict, and the boar is associated with it. The power it has over the boys makes them attempt every measure to keep themselves safe, even if it meant harming another boy. When the hunters find the boar they kill it and, “ Jack held up the head and jammed the soft throat down the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth... ‘ This head’s for the beast!’ ” (136-137). This action was very much for the beast they convinced themselves to believe in. It not only gave them fear that took control of them, but also an underlying feeling of evil and extreme violence inside of them. The boar, or “Lord of the Flies” even says this to Simon, “ ‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill... You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?” (143). The head is saying how the boys think the beast is something they can defeat physically. But, points out how the beast must be defeated mentally because they are the beast. The head controls their minds and how they view themselves and this is one of the most contributing objects to hold power over them on the

island.
Although these objects might not control the boys in a direct way, the objects symbolize the true things that control them. The conch represents organization, the glasses portray fire and control, and the boar's head depicts fear and evil. Those three portrayals all affect the boys firsthand. They force the boys into a division of groups, a brutal fight and an ironic rescue just before another child was killed.
Separated from any form of real command, the boys struggle on the island when it comes to power. There is conflict with leaders and ultimately, chaos ensues. All the power is shown through three objects, the conch, Piggy’s glasses, and the boar’s head. These symbols form the way the boys shall live their lives on the island. Their stranded survival is now all about control and fear amongst the groups.