We will come to an end. Whether from the beast within or the beast within others, the end is inevitable, and closer than meets the eye. As humans, we struggle to point out this weakness: the inner beast within all of us that corrupts our decisions and clouds our judgement despite clear morals. This undeniable, inevitable beast within us has existed since the beginning of man but we rarely acknowledge its existence. We choose to believe that our civilized morals will always subdue man's primitive, savage instincts when, in fact, we remain far from the truth that our savage instincts will always prevail. Golding uses characterization and symbolism to illustrate man’s savage instincts.
Golding uses Piggy’s character to convey the devolving state
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of civilization. He remains resolute in his belief of civilization as the rest of the boys drift towards savagery. Civilized traits including intelligence, respect, and loyalty are portrayed by Piggy through his thoughtful actions. He’s constantly making connections to the “grown- up” world to find what is in the boy’s best interest. While the other boys are making rash decisions about how to run the island, Piggy makes this comment: “‘Grown-ups know things,’ said Piggy. ‘They ain’t afraid of the dark. They’d meet and have tea and discuss. Then things ’ud be all right—’” (94). As his intellect remains strong, so does the state of the boys’ civilization on the island. It is not until Jack fractures Piggy’s spectacles that we see a noticeable decline in the boys civilization. Directly after Jack “breaks” Piggy’s intellect, the boys begin to display savagery through this chant: “Kill the pig. Cut her Throat. Bash her in,” (75). With one lens broken, we see a nearly equal divide between civilization and savagery. It is not until Jack’s tribe steals Piggy’s spectacles altogether that we see a clear drop in the state of civilization. After being robbed of his spectacles, “Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia,” (169). Without his spectacles, Piggy no longer has the ability to help the boys because he is blind literally and figuratively in the sense that he’s blind to how savage the boys are becoming. At this point, the only connections to civilization are the morals still followed by Ralph and Piggy. Even their morals, however, don’t last for long. Soon after the theft of Piggy’s spectacles, Piggy and Ralph go to Jack’s territory to ask for them back. While they’re there, Roger pushes a large boulder down the hill and “Piggy falls forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea,” (--) Without Piggy, the state of civilization devolved entirely, resulting in an eruption of savagery. Like predators and prey, Jack’s tribe goes on a hunt for Ralph and nearly kills him in cold blood. This hunt is only possible because when Piggy died, conveying the state of civilization, civilization on the island died too, resulting in pure savage actions of the boys. Just as Golding uses Piggy to illustrate the devolving state of civilization, he uses Jack’s character to convey that man is inherently evil. At the beginning, Jack is unable to bring himself to kill a pig. The other boys “knew very well why he hadn’t [killed the pig]: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood,” (31). We see through this fear of killing and blood that the boys still have strong ties to their morals and customs from England. It is not until Jack begins to show is fascination with hunting that we see his primal instincts. He responds to his first kill in a frenzy of bloodlust simply saying, “We needed meat,” (71) As Jack utters this with a “bloodied knife in his hand,” (71) he discovers “the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of longing and baffled commonsense,” (71). This image conveys Jack as a lion after his kill, with excitement, enthusiasm, and gruesome blood. Instead of hunting with the intent of obtaining food, Jack treats killing like a game. As Jack, along with his savage ways, gains popularity and influence, the evil within every boy is exposed. An entire “tribe” is formed from the desire to kill when Jack tells the boys, “I’m going off by myself... Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.” (127). A separate tribe was created due to the lack of hunting occurring with Ralph as the leader. Jack’s decision to assemble such group was not made in the best interest of the group, but in his personal interest of hunting. As Jack’s group evolves into an evil cult, killing becomes second nature. His reaction to the murder of a fellow biggun was not in the least regretful. “Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind. ‘Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood,’” (152). His chant gives the connotation of a satanic summoning, and its diction relays how sinister the boys are within. Many criticisms can made about Jack’s sinister personality, but he undoubtedly conveys that people are inherently evil though repetitive actions of selfishness and savagery. In addition to utilizing characterization, Golding uses symbolism of The Beast to convey the savagery within everyone. At first, all of the boys have a fear of the supposed “beast” that a littlun claims to see. All the boys assume the beast to be a physical monster, but Simon realizes that the beast is within. “What I mean is... maybe it’s only us,” (127). The other boys laugh at this, but we see later that Simon is right. It’s not long before the boys’ belief in the beast strengthens. Golding intentionally strengthens their belief as savagery among them increases because they’re unknowingly scared of the beast within themselves that is becoming more prominent. Their strong belief in the beast evolves into worship, as they treat the beast like a god: “This head is for the beast. It’s a gift.” (137). The head acts as a sacrifice from the boys, a demonstration of their savagery. It’s not the beast’s presence that causes savagery, but the savagery within the boys that amplify’s the beast’s importance. Golding also employs symbolism of the conch shell to convey the deteriorating state of order.
The conch begins as a beacon of power; whoever has the conch is given everybody’s full attention and no one else is allowed to speak until the shell is passed to them. The strict rules associated with the conch keep the boys in line and cooperative. As the island deteriorates into savagery, the conch loses its power to maintain order. The loss of the conch’s significance is exhibited through the invasion of Ralph and Piggy’s camp: “‘I thought they wanted the conch.’ Ralph trotted down the pale beach and jumped on to the platform. The conch still glimmered by the chief’s seat,” (168). Ralph, one of the only boys that still values order, is baffled that Jack’s tribe left the conch shell because he still sees it as a beacon of power. The savages, on the other hand, have no desire for order within their tribe; to them, the conch is simply a shell. Despite its insignificance to most, the conch continues to hold order within Ralph’s small group of boys until they approach the savages at their end of the island. Piggy brings the conch with him to remind the savages of what’s right, but in the end, has no effect on them, as both he and the conch shell are destroyed. “The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (181). The destruction is completed entirely, not one piece of the conch remains. This is significant because it signifies that the state of order on the island has completely vanished. Soon after the destruction of the conch, Jack’s tribe erupts in chaos and begins a hunt for Ralph. The boys go crazy with bloodlust and rambunctiously march around the island; there is no order whatsoever among the remaining boys. With the decaying state of the conch shell comes the declining state of order on the island until the conch is destroyed and order
abolished. It is commonly said that all good things must come to an end and civilization is no exception to this. Though Golding’s use of characterization and symbolism, such truth of man’s savage instincts is conveyed. The beast will always win, no matter how hard we fight it. The strong may be able to escape it, but there’s no way of avoiding the beast within others; they must have the determination to tame theirs on their own. It’s not a matter of if we’ll encounter the beast, but a matter of how we’ll respond when it crosses our path.
William Golding communicates the idea through Ralph that all the order and goodness of the island is gone when the Conch breaks and how the rest of the boys turned into savages. Golding shows in the novel that, “Samneric were savages like the rest; Piggy was dead, and the conch smashed to powder.” This quote it demonstrates how the other boys took everything from Ralph who was the only person still somewhat civilized. The rest of the boys just follow and let the evil inside consume them. The other boys broke the conch to show how they turned on the only person not evil. The conch broke because they forgot how authority works and the do not listen to anybody and more. Samneric turned to evil also and the only person that wasn’t changed was
Piggy first finds the conch shell, being the most intelligent of the boys on the island, Piggy knows what the conch is after stumbling upon it and how to use it. Piggy, being physically larger than the other boys and having asthma, is unable to use the conch himself. Piggy hands the shell over to Ralph who, “…grasped the idea and hit the shell with air from his diaphragm. Immediately the thing sounded. A deep, harsh note boomed under the palms…” (Golding 17) Despite the fact Piggy was the one to find the shell, Ralph becomes its main possessor after being the only one to conjure a sound from the shell. Along with being the first to use the shell, Ralph is much more courageous, physically fit, and charismatic than Piggy, qualities shown in a natural-born leader. Ralph indirectly asserts his authority and power over Piggy by being able to blow the conch, in which Piggy cannot. From this point on, Ralph has ownership over the conch, this associates the idea of authority with Ralph’s character altogether. Shortly after the conch shell is blown, young boys of varying ages begin to appear among the palms, as more boys appeared Ralph made it clear that they are in the process of a meeting. The main purpose of the meeting is to find the
The conch is used for the first time in the book and able to draw all of the boys to the same spot on the island showing its power. “Immediately, the thing sounded. A deep harsh note boomed under the palms...” (Golding 12) Soon after the conch is blown, the boys start to arrive one by one. The conch is able to reach over the whole island to get the boys to gather. Very quickly the conch is put on a high place of order. In fact, the boys cannot even talk in the assemblies unless they are holding the conch. The conch can calm everybody down. If everything is going crazy, all Ralph has to do is blow the conch and then the boys will assemble. In addition to the power of the conch, it represents civility, as the boys are savages without it. “‘If I blow the conch and they don’t come back, then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued.’” (Golding 99) Ralph knows if they do not come back after he blows the conch then they have officially become savages; there would be no coming back from it. He does not want to blow the conch because he wants to believe that they are still civil and have order, but deep down he knows that they are savages. Throughout the novel, Ralph is always using the conch to bring order back to the boys. The boys are nothing without the conch....
Everybody respected the conch and what it stood for. There was a point in the book where Jack “laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet,” (Page 127). Jack could have thrown the conch on the ground, but instead he laid it down with great care showing that although he may not want to follow all of the rules, he still respects all of the rules that have been put into place. The conch shell represents the idea that a civilization is able to and most likely in the end will fail, if everybody in the civilization is working together. Towards the end of the book, the conch shell shatters. In the scene, “the rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist,” (Page 181). The rock falling off of the cliff and shattering the conch closely represents every small insignificant issue within their civilization. Essentially, the kids morphed the tiny issues into huge issues which eventually tore their civilization
The conch shell represents democracy, power and stability. When Ralph first discovers the conch shell, Piggy proposes to Ralph that they, “…can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come, when they hear us” (16) and that was the birth of the conch shell. Throughout meetings that are held at the beach, the conch is used as a “speaking stick”. After Jack separates himself from the rest of the tribe, Ralph barges into the camp and attempts to use the conch shell to gather up his former tribe mates. The boys say that th...
Savagery is brought out in a person when they lose everything else. Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows us that when there is a lack of societal boundaries, animalistic behavior is what will follow. Humanity is destroyed with lack of guidelines or rules.
When the boys arrive at the island after a plane crash, they are forced to find a way to keep everything in order and under control. “At first they delight in their freedom and in their pleasure of the island”( Saidi, Hasan1). Then the boys begin to explore, Ralph and Piggy find a conch shell on the beach. When Ralph and Piggy first see the shell Piggy says "S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable--" (Golding15). They use this shell as a symbol of how fragile order and democracy is. The sound from the shell gathers all the boys together after the plane crash. The plane crash seperated them in th...
In the beginning of the story, the conch is used to bring together all the boys on the island, establishing itself early on as a symbol of power and unity. For this reason, it becomes the main factor of which Ralph is elected chief. The boys all shout, “Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph! Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing” (Golding, 22); the simple fact that Ralph possessed the conch - a symbol of power and authority, was enough for him to be chosen as chief.
In the beginning of the novel, Ralph and Piggy find a conch shell on the beach. Remembering something from before their plane crashed onto the island, Piggy says to blow into the conch; Ralph does so. Almost instantly, the other boys begin to come to them. Immediately, the conch is seen as a sign of power. The boys impose a "rule of the conch" on themselves, deciding that no boy may speak unless he's holding the conch. This shows that the conch stands for law and order, which is main trait of democracy. It reveals how conditioned we are to society. The boys need to have a syste...
This conch is the only connection to the order and rules of the boys’ past lives, as there is no other influence on them in the isolated natural state of the island. Golding’s readers are able to see the boys’ return to their innate savagery as they increasingly reject all that the conch represents. When the shell finally ceases to exist, cruel savagery and terrorizing fear take over the island. Their inherently savage selves are finally
Unlike the rest of the boys, that want to play and don’t want to work, Ralph starts working and building shelters and trying to find ways for them to be rescued as soon as possible. “‘They’re [littluns] hopeless. The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing’” (49). In the quote above, Ralph is complaining to Jack how no one but him and Simon are building huts, which, in his view, is much more important than hunting for pigs, which is what Jack and his hunters are doing. In the beginning, Ralph is elected as the leader, and has to tell all the boys what to do to be rescued during his meetings with them. During the meeting, Ralph uses a conch shell to govern the meetings. The rule is that whoever has got the conch gets to speak and everyone else must quietly listen to them. “‘That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking’” (32). The conch symbolizes order and rules, which are things that only exist in a civilization. However, the conch loses its power and value gradually throughout the book as the boys go from being disciplined and orderly to violent
Firstly, Golding introduced us to our beloved conch in the beginning of the book. This special shell was found by Piggy and claimed by Ralph, according to chapter 1. “What's that?” Piggy said. “A stone.” “No. A shell… A conch he called it! He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable” (14). A few pages later into chapter 1 after the scene, Ralph took Piggy's quote of blowing the conch to gather others that might have wandered off into different parts of the island. Once everyone got to the platform where Ralph and Piggy were, they voted Ralph as chief, since he was the one that had brought everyone together with the conch. One of the littluns states, “Him with the shell. Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing” (21). The conch not only represented Ralph's power as chief, but in deeper meaning, showed law and order. The conch was also made to let one talk with permission with it in hand, and whatever they say would be in the air until the next person receives the conch. Jack had even respected the conch, though as a
This meant that once the conch shell was blown, then the meeting would start. The conch was then passed around and the only person who could speak was the person holding the conch shell. In the book it says, ‘‘‘I got the conch,”’said Piggy indignantly. “‘You let me speak’”(p.52)! This shows the little respect Piggy received although the conch was his idea. Later, Ralph shouts over the boys, “‘We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that’s a meeting. The same up here as down there’”(p.52). This shows that the boys needed a way back to civilization and rules, a meeting place, and the conch shell gave them a society to be a part of. Each of the boys all want to chief in one way or another, but they vote Ralph as chief because of his leadership qualities. While the conch shows a sense of civilization and society the boys also draw away from it and the island goes through chaos. Golding writes, “Ralph took the conch from him and looked round the circle of boys”(p.52). Each of the boys yearn for everyone to listen to them and follow their rules. As the story progresses, the conch begins to become less important and the boys don’t care about the significance of
They voted and “Ralph counted. ‘I’m chief then.’ The circle of boys broke into applause” (Golding 23). Ralph won in a democratic election to become chief. This vote emphasizes how the boys are able to implement elements of a democratic government and be civilized, in doing so. . Ralph was elected “as the leader not because he is the smartest boy, or the one with the most experience, but primarily because of his association to the conch” (Koopmans 75). The conch shell serves as a sort of ¨talking stick¨ or a symbol for order and civilization. When the boys first reach the island, Ralph utilizes the conch to call all of the them together and creates a civilization. This sense of organization is appealing to the boys, therefore they elect Ralph as their leader. He reminds Jack he “voted me for chief didn’t you hear the conch?” (Golding 176). Throughout the novel, the conch is used as a reminder for civilization. It brings the boys together in an organized fashion He takes this responsibility and applies his skills to ensure the best in the children on the island. He “sought always to maintain parliamentary procedures, to respect
As piggy tries to speak none of the other boys listen to his ideas, even though the rule is that they are to listen to the person with the conch in their hands. Piggy says “I got the conch” (Golding 101) but Jack got annoyed and shouted “conch! conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch anymore…It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us’” (Golding 101-102). This shows that as the chaos and discontentment within the group grows the power of the conch is unraveling. At this point in the novel, only Ralph and Piggy see it as an important item, while Jack thinks it is inane to have order established by a shell. Jack has his own views on how to be a leader. The fact that Ralph is the leader; and doesn’t accept any of Jacks ideas angers him. Therefore, he decides that he is “not going to play any longer.” (Golding 127) and creates his own group. Most of the boys on the island are not terrified of Jacks abilities to kill and they just want to have fun so they end up following Jack and become