Lord of the Flies - The symbolism of the conch, its importance in the novel and the attitude of the boys towards it.

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Felicity Cohen 10F

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Lord of the Flies

The symbolism of the conch, its importance in the novel and the attitude of the boys towards it.

William Golding uses a lot of symbolism in his novel, Lord of the Flies, for objects that represent ideas or progression into savagery. One of the main objects is the conch. This shell represents power and authority, and we can see this because Ralph uses it to call the others to join him in a meeting. In these meetings whomever holds the shell is entitled to speak and this represents democracy and freedom of speech within a group instead of a purely autocratic assembly that Jack would have. The conch shows how people use objects to give power, like a crown or scepter. Ralph first gets the confidence to suggest that a chief is necessary from the conch and from then on he uses it as his support, I quote,       “ ‘Shut up’, said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. ‘Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things’ ”. His forcefulness gains respect from the others, and I quote “Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence” and immediately the boys listened to what he had to say. Ralph uses the shell to set up the rules by which the boys will live and says “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”. This is an enormous privilege because it allows this person to share their ideas with the group. This is the way in which Ralph convinces the boys that they must light a fire in order to be rescued and also gives Jack the responsibility to lead the hunters which gives him power and keeps the former prefect and leader of the choir happy.

At the beginning, the conch is the only way in which the boys can gain power and respect but as time goes on the conch becomes more and more unnecessary and the boys do not use it in their assemblies so much. When Ralph is elected it is not purely because he called the assembly, as Jack was also a prominent figure with practice at leading, but as Ralph held the conch by which they had come together, he was voted for and I quote “Most powerfully, there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart”. At this point everything is organized and there are rules by which all the boys abide, a strong leader, fire and food. When there is no disregarding of the decided rules, they as a group unite and prosper.

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It is Piggy who discovered the conch first, but it was Ralph who was credited with its find. When it was retrieved from the lagoon, Ralph saw it as a stone in the water, but Piggy knew it was a shell and knowledgeably explained how to use it correctly to their advantage. I quote “ ‘A stone.’ ‘No. A shell.’ Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement. ‘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.’ ” The shell emitted a deep harsh note ...

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