The Conch Shell In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

“Being human is given, but keeping your humanity is a choice”.

The conch shell is a natural communication tool the boys find and use within the island. Without it, an order of behavior cannot constructively be established. The gradual fading of color in the conch shows how the boys lose their humanity over time and become uncivilized savages.

Unbalanced power in the hands of children will undeniably lead to an uproar of arguments and frustration. The conch shell was the one symbol that bound the boys to society, and kept them fair minded. It was an influential representation of justice and equality, because everyone had their chance to stand up in front of the crowd and give their opinion. The shell’s value was first determined when Piggy

proclaimed that he and Ralph should use the conch to call on the others because, “They’ll come when they hear us” (16). Comparable to the actions of a school bell, the conch comes to represent authority and order, keeping the boys in check and balanced among each other. The idea of using the shell to call on someone gives the boy's structure and a purpose to remain within the boundaries of the island. The shell has several other important symbols and characteristics to it, not only having the power to give someone the ability to speak and be heard.

Originally the conch shell had a pinkish color to it which in time came to depict how much humanity the boys had left within themselves. Relating to an innocent quality, the “yellow and pink transparent” color of the shell had Ralph drawn towards it with affection and respect. Throughout the beginning chapters of the novel the color stays constant in comparison to how little the boys have been exposed to. Approaching the middle chapters of the novel, majority of the boys start to forget about the conch shell and as a result the shell’s color begins to fade. Once the conch is taken out of its natural space, its color begins to change on account of the boys not taken care of it anymore. "The conch was covered in soot, forgotten by Ralph and Piggy, who's only thought was to keep the fire from going out" (111). As the boys attention shifted to more important things such as the fire, the shell began losing its value and furthermore so did its beauty.

When the plane was first crashed onto the island, the conch was what brought the boys together as one group. But as things first started getting out of hand, the conch was no longer able to bring them together and the boys grew further apart. In the second chapter a fire accidentally spreads across the land burning down parts of the island and engulfing a littlun in the process. This is one of the initial signs of savagery to come. It isn’t long before Jack decides that they should be split into groups and soon after begins his pig hunts. Prior to Jack’s transformation from a boy into a savage, he had been unable to kill a pig because at heart he was still a boy with untainted innocence. Making excuses for his incompetence Jack knew the true reason he was unable to go through with it was “ because of the unbearable blood” (31). The bottom line is that all three of the boys feel uneasy about the thought of killing. Later on in the novel when Jack and his tribe went out hunting more, he successfully hunts and kills a pig after slathering his face with clay and becoming a whole other person. Not only has he triumphantly hunted a pig, Jack is beginning to enjoy the rush of adrenaline he endures whenever he acts out. "He [Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling" (58).
In addition to this barbarism, Roger has discovered that no one will limit his cruelty after having tested the boundaries of his bullying.

Earlier on in the story he had cornered Henry when he was sure no one was around, and began throwing pebbles at him to miss. The point of what Roger had been doing was to see if anyone was going to be like an adult figure and tell him he couldn’t do what he was doing. After guaranteeing that no one will put a limit to his abilities, Roger takes his actions a step further when he kills Piggy while he was delivering his speech about being rescued, not to mention after both of his spectacles had been broken. With “a sense of delirious abandonment," Roger released the boulder that went speeding down the hill and crashing into Piggy, knocking him off a cliff causing him to fall to his death (180). In the process, the conch exploded into thousands of white fragments and ceased to exist. In comparison to the boys humanity and civilization, the moment their adult role model and peace symbol were destroyed was the moment they all lost it. Golding shows the reader that all hope for civilization has been crushed.
Both acts of savagery between Roger and Jack were derived straight from the pleasure of others’ suffering. Jack and his hunters have pushed Ralph over the edge to the point where Ralph begins acting as savage as the rest of the boys. This very clear path of savagery throughout the novel leads to the demolishing of the conch and Piggy, the voice of reason, and in several foul movements the remainder of civilization on the island is

shattered.

In conclusion all the boys started out as pure minded children, but all went down their separate paths. Whether they had been greeted with death or a change in their moral character, everyone had in some way adapted to their surroundings of the island. The conch being the boys only communication tool, but also having a great amount of meaning within it represents the decreasing amount of humanity the boys have left within them. The continuous fading of color in the shell shows how the basic individual can lose themselves in a short amount of time with given circumstances that may push them further than is expected. In time, each boy loses it to some natural occurrence on the island, and ultimately they all become uncivilized savages.