Lord of the Flies Essay Example

Order, Government, and Savagery A symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. In the book, “ Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, there are many symbols such as the pig’s head, fire, painted faces, and Piggy’s glasses. However one symbol stands out more than the others, the conch. The conch symbolizes order, government, savagery, and even one of the characters called Piggy. Order was one of the main themes that the conch symbolized. When Ralph and Piggy first found the conch Piggy said, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us.” (16). Automatically they find the conch, blow on it, and everyone on the island comes to the platform. This shows that they are trying to have everything be put in order by calling a meeting and discussing everything that is going on, and to discuss how they are going to survive. Another example of order is, “ I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking. We’ll have rules! Lots of rules!” (33). This shows that they want the order of England and of school. When in school, if the students have a question or an answer, they raise their hands and say what they are going to say. Another main theme in this book that the conch symbolizes is government. For example, when they called the meeting Ralph said, “ Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.” (22). This shows that they want for the island to be like England and have a ruler. The ruler would tell them what is right, what is wrong, and how they should be doing everything. Another example of government is, “ Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing.” (22). The children on the island wanted Ralph to be the chief because he started to lead by just blowing the conch. To the children it showed that he knew what he was doing, and they thought he knew how to go home. The other theme that the conch symbolizes is the savagery. For example, Jack explained. “ I