Lord of the Flies: Symbolism of The Conch
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies the Conch represents power and order.
Power is represented by the fact that you have to be holding it to speak, and
Order is displayed by the meetings or gatherings that its used to call and hold.
The Conch's power is presented in the very beginning on pg 22 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 pg 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 book the conch is the only
tool that can call a meeting and wherever the Conch is thats 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." 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 pg
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, fortunatly 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... [continues]
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies the Conch represents power and order.
Power is represented by the fact that you have to be holding it to speak, and
Order is displayed by the meetings or gatherings that its used to call and hold.
The Conch's power is presented in the very beginning on pg 22 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 pg 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 book the conch is the only
tool that can call a meeting and wherever the Conch is thats 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." 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 pg
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, fortunatly 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... [continues]
Cite This Essay
- APA
-
(1999, 10). Lord of the Flies: Symbolism of the Conch. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 10, 1999, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Lord-Flies-Symbolism-Conch-1491.html
- MLA
-
"Lord of the Flies: Symbolism of the Conch" StudyMode.com. 10 1999. 10 1999 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Lord-Flies-Symbolism-Conch-1491.html>.
- CHICAGO
-
"Lord of the Flies: Symbolism of the Conch." StudyMode.com. 10, 1999. Accessed 10, 1999. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Lord-Flies-Symbolism-Conch-1491.html.
