Losing the Fight

647 Words2 Pages

In “Lord of the Flies” William Golding delivers a realistic fiction story in a way no other author can. He tells a story about a group of boys stranded on an island struggling between the forces of good and evil. The story is carried by powerful diction, frightening detail and insightful imagery to show how the shell is a symbol of good that is used by Ralph to show the boys responsibility while the sow`s head is a symbol of evil that is used by jack to instill fear in the boys.
When Ralph and Piggy discovered the conch shell they realized that it could be used for communication to summon the boys. Golding expresses the little power Ralph has by saying “most powerful[l], there was the conch” (Golding 22) this shows that although Ralph’s has power over the boys the conch shell is more powerful than him. If Ralph calls the boys they will not respond so he has to blow the conch shell to gather the boys. The conch is supposed to teach the boys responsibility because eventually if they hear it enough the will connect the two. After jack tells Ralph how he killed the pig Ralph respond” with the conch imp calling a meeting” you can see he is trying to stay calm when he says” when I blow it. Now!” (75) This shows that amidst all the bad things going on Ralph feels like he has to restore order among the boys. He cannot lose his grip on them so he must use the conch to its full powers. Golding uses exquisite wordplay when stating that “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments” and that it “ceased to exist” (181) this shows that the conch shell no longer has power because it does not exist. Without the conch there will no longer be a sense of responsibility on the island. Now that the conch is gone evil has a chance to prosper and...

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... since it was they put it to good use. When Ralph finds the sow's head in the forest he hits it and it come back “ grinning” so he hits it again and it falls and its “ grin is now six feet across” (185). Jack was trying get Ralph to join his tribe but he will not. Jack and the sow's head will stop at nothing to have power. Without the “great cream shell” there is no longer anything good on the island. When the conch broke Ralph could no longer have power so jack became the prime rule. The breaking of the conch took away all the good things and left all the bad things there to prosper and thrive. Now Ralph has to find a way to survive until they are rescued.
The conch shell had so much power and Ralph used it as best as he could. The sow's head also had a lot of power and jack used it too. The objects had so much control over them.

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Lord of the Flies

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