Lord Of The Flies Conch And The Beast Symbol Analysis

Symbolism is the use of objects to represent ideas or qualities. There are many symbols that are shown and used throughout the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding that has a positive and/or negative impact on all of the boys on the island. There is a group of British schoolboys in 1914 who's plane got shot down, many boys survived the crash and need to find a way to get rescued without any adult supervision. The most significant symbols in the novel would be the signal fire, the conch and the beast. All these symbols play a specific role in Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

The most significant symbol in the novel is the conch, which symbolizes civilization and order. In the novel on page 34, Piggy states, "We can use this to

call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us." This shows the boys respect the conch and whoever is holding it. The conch is respected mostly by the littleuns because to them Ralph or whoever holds the conch shows responsibility and maturity just like a parent. On page 139, the author states, “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." The conch is blown when the boys need a meeting to talk about what they need to in order to be rescued and survive. The conch is the main reason the boys stayed civil and did not turn into full savages.
Meanwhile, the beast represents the opposite.

The beast represents the savagery and evilness inside of everyone which creates fear because the boys do not know what the beast is. On page 362, William Golding states, “The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe."Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” During this scene the boys believed that what was crawling out of the forest was the beast when in reality it was only Simon. The boys were so eager to find and kill the beast that they killed Simon in the thought it was the beast. The beast is the savage and evil inside each one of us that represents fear, terror and

chaos.
In addition, the signal fire is a major symbol in the novel.

The boys use the signal fire as a way of hope and rescue. “Your only hope is keeping a signal fire going as long as there's light to see. Then maybe a ship'll notice the smoke and come and rescue us and take us home. But without that smoke we've got to wait till some ship comes by accident. We might wait years; till we were old―" spoke Ralph, page 426. This shows the reader how important it is to the boys specifically Ralph, that they get rescued. Ralph does everything in his power to keep the fire lit all day and night. One day, a ship passed by when Jack and his hunters accidentally let the fire out resulting in the ship not to see them. The signal fire was also used as a source of danger. Jacks tribe wanted to kill Ralph, so they lit the forest on fire. This resulted in the boys being rescued by an officer who had noticed the smoke. The signal fire is a representation of hope and faith in being

rescued.
The most significant symbols in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding would be the fire, the conch and the beast. The conch is one of the major symbols used throughout the whole novel which represents civilization and order. The signal fire represented hope and faith in being rescued from the island and was the reason the boys were found by the officer. Lastly, the beast represents the savagery and evilness inside of everyone. All of these things had a positive and/or negative impact in each one of the boys on the island. To conclude, symbolism is the use of objects that represent ideas or qualities