The Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

In the Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, one of the most important symbols in the novel is the conch shell. The conch is a shell that the boys found in a lagoon on the island. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting.”(20). They use the conch to summon the group to meetings and help govern the boys. The conch started off as a symbol of power and democracy. Over the course of the book, both power and authority start to fall apart. The first boy to ignore the power of the shell is Jack. “The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain,” said Jack, “so you shut up.”(58). Jack becomes power hungry and starts to not respect the conch. Whoever has the conch, has the right to speak, but Jack clearly does not care about the conch.