The Conch's power is presented in the very beginning as the children vote for Ralph to be chief just because he was the one with the Conch. "Him with the shell." "Ralph! Ralph!" "Let him be chief with the trumpet thing" ' this excerpt from Page 22 shows how everybody seems to think that power, responsibility and leadership skills comes from the Conch.
Another Example of the Conch's Power is the fact that through out the novel the conch is the only tool that can call a meeting and wherever the Conch is that’s where the meeting is. No other symbol in “Lord of the Flies” holds so much power. This is one of the reasons that Jack Merridew disrespects the Conch. He wants to break the spell the symbol has on everybody. He wants to prove that he is the rightful leader.
The Conch also displays order through the rule that you must have the Conch to Speak in an assembly or meeting,
"And another thing, we can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have 'hands up' like at school."
Throughout the story the conch was respected by someone whether it was Ralph, Piggy, the choir or by the little’uns. The reason why it was respected as it gave the little’uns the right to speak. "Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence." Throughout the novel, Piggy holds on to the conch and encourages Ralph and others to use it at times when Piggy feels that civilisation is being lost. At first everyone thinks that this is the best method to maintain order but soon they find out how quickly the power of the conch is abused by Ralph and Jack. On Page 89 while Simon is trying to speak Ralph and Jack try to get him to sit down. ‘Sit down' 'Shut up' 'take the Conch!' 'Sod you' ' Shut up!' This shows early on that the Order is starting to fall apart, fortunately Ralph doesn't become a corrupt leader he keeps his head on straight which causes the others to get restless. They want to have fun but Ralph being the leader doesn't have a choice some things need to be done in order to stay civilized. Jack on the other hand decides to separate and build his own "Tribe" he uses catchy words like "We'll hunt and have fun" but in actuality Ralph's group which is declining is the safer and the more fun of the two. Here's an extract on Page 92 that shows that Ralph is losing control of Jack and the Conch is loosing its effect on the other kids. 'Blow the Conch Ralph' Piggy was so close that Ralph could see the glint of his one glass 'there’s the fire can't they see?' ‘You got to be tough now. Make' em do what you want." Here Ralph and Piggy are debating whether or not to blow the conch and call the rampaging kids back to the assembly. This is the beginning when Ralph starts to lose control. However this instance however is not the only one. Later on in the novel the Conch's power, order and "divine" influence completely falls apart. Page 140 provides a good example of this deterioration
"Listen all of you. Me and my hunters, we're living along the beach on a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join the tribe come and see us. Perhaps will let you join. Perhaps not."
In Chapter 11, Ralph, Piggy and Sam’n’Eric arrive at Castle Rock to claim Piggy's glasses. Ralph again tries the conch one more time to bring the "savages" back to form a civilisation. However this fails, and instead Ralph argues with Jack. Piggy tries one more time to use the conch as a right to speak. Finally, at the height of this argument, Roger levers a bolder off the rock which kills Piggy and smashes the conch. "The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist". Therefore, all hope of civilisation is lost.
As the island physically erodes with the fire producing a scar and also island civilization erodes the boys descend into savagery, the conch shell loses its power and influence among them. Ralph clutches the shell desperately when he talks about his role in murdering Simon. Later, the other boys ignore Ralph and throw stones at him when he attempts to blow the conch in Jack’s camp. The boulder that Roger rolls onto Piggy also crushes the conch shell, signifying the demise of the civilized instinct among almost all the boys on the island.
Below is a graph which I believe represents how many people followed and respected the conch and how much power the conch had throughout the novel.
At the start of the novel it gave people the right to speak and it also gave order so lots of people liked using the conch. As the story progresses Jack, who I believe is the leading advocate of anarchy on the island, and some of the choir did not like the idea of being told what to do. The deicide to start their own “Tribe”. When more and more of the boys joined Jack’s tribe the conch’s power decreased. Towards the end of the novel, Piggy tried to use it to get his glasses back as he thought that the one thing Jack did not have and wanted was the conch. Jack realised that it is just a shell and it had no physical power so Piggy could not get his glasses back. When Piggy, the one recognised the conch when it was found and wanted a civilized island, was crushed with the Conch all order and democracy broke down.
The Lord of the Flies contains twelve titled chapters. The plot is simple and rarely splits into more than one plot lines. Occasionally, the story separates from the general group and follows one child. For example, the story followed the first of Jack’s hunts into the jungle, and also Simon’s wanderings to be alone. One of the techniques he uses in organizing plot is foreshadow. Through the use and manipulation of many symbols, he gives the reader and idea of what is to come foreshadowing future events. This entire book is autobiographical in that it tells us something the author wants to show us. Golding tries to teach us and warn us of the evil nature of mankind. He says through the book that we are evil and that it is only society that keeps us from committing crimes. Golding makes his novel come alive with a significant use of symbolism, physiological development, and general truths. His writing style is simple but the subject matter is deep. He uses a rather comparatively simple story to convey a weighty idea. Most of the sentences in Lord of the Flies are simple. There are sentences that are complex and the occasional compound sentence. Most characters speak simply and clearly.
He uses complex language throughout the novel, for example, “efflorescence” and “fish flicked hither and thither”. With his complex language it describes the island and the boys effectively and puts magnificent images in the readers mind.
The first passage contains mostly simple sentences. One example of a compound sentence is, “when they had done laughing, Simon stroked Ralph’s arm shyly; and they had to laugh again.”
The second passage contains both simple and complex sentences. In this passage, the speech is somewhat rambling and contains several fragments. However, this sort of speech conveys the idea that Piggy was thinking while he was speaking.
The third passage contains mostly simple and complex sentences. The writing style here gives the feeling of desperation and loss of hope. The reader feels how Ralph feels and understands what he understands about the “loss of innocence.”
Golding uses a lot of figurative language throughout the novel. He uses a little personification in this book. He does use it, however, during the conversation between the dead pig head and Simon. The head is personified and given able to speak to Simon. Although it is dead, it is proud and defiant in its speech. He occasionally uses simile. One occasion occurs in the first passage when Golding compares the sand with a road saying,
“…there was a strip of weed-strewn beach that was almost as firm as a road.”
He often uses metaphor in this book. In fact, all symbolism is a type of metaphor since they compare two unlike things. Other metaphors in the book were when Golding described the choir boy at the beginning of the book as a dark creature crawling along the sand.
After reading the book I still not quite sure if the conch was a force or good or evil on the island. I believe that the conch was more a force of good on the island than evil as it gave the little’uns and the other people the right to speak and put forward their view whereas at home they may have had to keep quiet. It also gave order as it was the signal for an assembly and for all the boys to stop talking. It was the sign of authority as the person with the conch was respected in the beginning. Ralph, who mainly had the conch other than Piggy, used it to get people to help and make huts, fires and get food. I feel that without the conch Jack and his “tribe” would have destroyed the island and killed many more people before the Officer rescued them. On the other hand, if they did not find and use the conch then Jack and his followers would not have anything to rebel against but I am sure that it would still have the same outcome, many would be killed and it would show the destruction of mankind which is what Golding wanted to show in the novel.
