He uses language, which is smooth and almost poetic, which portrays it as an ornament. Only Piggy grasps that it is worth a lot of money and has to be treated with care, whereas Ralph sees it as an object, which has an interesting and aesthetically pleasing appearance. The importance of the conch is reinforced as the title of the first chapter, ‘The Sound of The Shell’.
When Ralph sounds the conch for the first time he is overwhelmed by how loud it is. “The birds cried, small animals scuttered.” The conch’s sound frightens small animals and holds a sense of power. When Jack and his choir come marching along the beach he presumes that the sound of the conch came from a man with a trumpet. The sound of the conch is so powerful that he thought a man made it, not a little boy. In this instance it gives Ralph an authoritative stance over the others as they all come to him when he blows it.
The boys try to assert rules and order to their living system and as Ralph was appointed leader he creates a system for meetings.
“”We’ll have to have ‘hands up’ like at school.” He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth. “Then I’ll give him the conch.””
The conch gives the person holding it the right to speak, without being spoken over. This is typical of Ralph’s character, as he gives everyone the opportunity to be heard. Ralph uses the conch to share his power, as he is a democratic leader.
When Ralph is voted for leader over Jack he knows that he has annoyed Jack. Later on in the novel Jack often undermines Ralph’s authority and the conch in assemblies, especially when it is in the hands of Piggy. ““You’re always scared. Yah---Fatty!” ”I got the conch,” said Piggy bleakly.” The conch stands for democracy, which Piggy depends upon to survive.
In chapter ten when Ralph’s group is raided by Jack’s tribe, Piggy is curious to know why the did not take the conch. “”I thought they wanted the conch.”” Jack is a dictator and does not rely on others or ask opinions. As the conch symbolises democracy Jack has no need or want for it, as he is autocratic.
In chapter eleven Piggy and the conch both come to their fate together. Golding does this because the conch is a symbol of democracy on the island, and Piggy solely relies on democracy to survive.
Golding convinces us that the conch is of importance by describing it in detail and giving it the power of free speech. It is clear that the conch symbolises democracy. The way Ralph, Piggy and Jack fight over it enhance it’s meaning, where Ralph and Piggy are in favour for democracy and in favour of the conch and Jack is a dictator not in favour of it. When the conch is destroyed it symbolises the destruction of law, order and democracy.
