Conch Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Lord of the Flies Essay : Rough Draft

Man is a very complex creature who requires a wide variety of complex needs; however, there is one demand that all of man desires, that is, power. The struggle for power is the foundation of human nature and it can bring success, but it can also bring about destruction. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding portrays power as an influential force which can be obtained and used in a number of ways, including controlling others and accomplishing far-reaching tasks, depending on the intention of it's user; however, the intention and implication of power will ultimately end up being evil and negative respectively. Through the use of the conch and the sow head, juxtaposition regarding Ralph’s and Jack’s authority,
At the beginning of the novel, the conch is a very critical means of obtaining power and Piggy is the first to determine why it is. Similarly, it is decided upon that whomever shall hold the conch will have the authority to speak and thus this portrays how the conch is a powerful symbol of democracy on the island. The significance and power of the conch is proven by Golding as he illustrates the situation following the election of Ralph as chief: “most powerfully, there was the conch.” (Golding 19), that is, the conch is one of the main reasons Ralph was chosen leader. The conch not only allows for one to call an assembly, but also to speak. This rule demonstrates how the conch stands for law and order which is an important trait of democracy. Likewise, the power of the conch can be seen by how Piggy wasn’t awarded for his actions after determining the use for the conch: “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—” (Golding 12). Although Piggy discovered the conch and gave Ralph the idea to use it, it was Ralph who became chief and that is simply because he was the one who used and established its power. The conch is a tool which has great influence on the boys: “They obeyed the summon of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority; and partly because
“‘Conch! Conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things.’” (Golding 110). As the conch plunges into futility, the Lord of the Flies, or sow head, which is used as a sacrifice for the beast, becomes increasingly more significant as it symbolises the presence of savagery on the island and the rule of Jack over the other boys. The Lord of the Flies unifies Jack’s group as a tribe of lawless savages and thus it solidifies his tribe as legitimate. The sow head works similarly to the placebo effect because in both scenarios, a remedy to a problem is