The Conch Symbolism

Sometimes, even the most minor and insignificant objects can have the most profound impact on people’s life such as life-saving pagers on doctors or something even as tiny as the timer to bake the perfect carrot cake. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this proves true with the conch and the boys’ lives on the island, as they devolve into savage beings. The physical deterioration of the conch symbolizes the loss of humanity within the characters of the novel; it starts off shining with pink and yellow, then dulls with the sun’s rays, and ultimately shatters towards the end, implying to the reader that the conch hides as a symbol in the uncovering of the boys’ savage and evil action, a devolving action Golding suggests happens when man

The conch shatters with Piggy, the only rational thinker on the island, leaving no hope for the boys to become humane or to return to their civilized “English” ways. Ralph views this horrific event as “The rock [strikes] Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch [explodes] into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” in awe while Jack feels triumphant in his success of killing (Golding 181). Piggy was known to be the most rational thinker and when the conch dies with him, thinking as well as law and order dies as well. This leaves the boys with no rule and abandons them to turn towards their inherent evil, confirming Golding’s view on humanity. When the conch “dies” it leaves no trace of rational thinking, as Piggy dies as well, and leaves Ralph to rely on his primal instincts. The absence of the conch symbolizes the end of the boys’ chance to go back into the real world and shows that they cross the line of innocence and can’t go back to face others the same way. Golding describes the setting, “There was no solemn assembly for debate nor dignity of the conch” to keep the boy’s together (Golding 196). Since the conch wasn’t there, Ralph wasn’t able to make key decisions, to defend himself from Jack killing him. This leads him to realize the importance of it and how the conch had led them where they were now. The conch shattering reflects the last blow the boys receive before they turn savage and lose all rational thinking. Once the conch is put in too much stress and tension it shatters paralleling the boys and how they quickly snap and devolve into animal-like beings, agreeing with Golding belief on