Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a story about a band of British boys that crash land on a deserted island, with no adults anywhere to be found. They are left to fend for themselves as order comes to an end and the island swallows them whole. Two key and complex symbols in this story are a conch shell and fire. The conch is a tool Ralph and Piggy, two boys on the island, find in the beginning of the story while searching for other boys that may have survived the crash. The fire is a way for the boys to stay “warm and safe” while they are on the island. As the young British boys become more aware of the dangers on the island, the conch and fire’s physical and symbolic manifestations change as life on the island begins to fall apart.

In the beginning, the conch symbolized a way of holding onto the boys’ school life. When the conch was blown and the powerful sound echoed throughout the island, Piggy claimed, “I bet you can hear this for miles” (17). Just as Piggy said this, children started to appear among the palms in the forest. The conch that called them together portrayed the kids’ school bell. It made most of them feel safe when they were confused about what was might happen to them.

The conch also brought order to the boys on the island. “We’ll have rules” “I’ll give the conch to the person next to me. He can hold it when he’s speaking.”(33). Without adults they were forced to create rules for themselves because order would have to be kept on the island until they were saved. At their school order was everything and they wanted to keep that order and thought of safety. The conch gave them a feeling of home and hope of getting off the island.

To increase their feeling of safety on the island the boys decided to...

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...he difference between a pig or a human anymore. What did he use to kill a pig? Fire. And now, it was exactly what he was going to use for Ralph. They wanted to smoke him out and set the island on fire (197). The fire consumed the forest and darkness had taken over for good. The fire left nothing behind but the memory of what had happened on the island.

The fire and the conch started out bright, full of life and gave the boys confidence and a feeling of home. As life falls apart on the island, the fire grows stronger and rich in color and the conch grows weaker and dull. When the conch breaks, society and any faith in order comes to an end. In the end, fire consumes everything and the hope for survival comes to a close. The complex concepts of fire and the conch changed along with the boys’ life on the island and in a way led them to their ultimate downfall.

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