Conch In Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

Symbolism is often used by authors to represent important ideas or qualities in literature. Objects, situations and even people, are used to represent those specific concepts that the author is trying to communicate to the reader. In the novel, Lord of the flies, William Golding applies symbolism throughout the book to represent the theme of civilization and savagery that is explored in the novel. One of the very first symbolic objects was the conch shell discovered on the beach by Ralph and Piggy Throughout the novel, the conch represents order and civilization. It is used to call assemblies and give a person the right to speak only if they are holding the conch. “And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school…Then I’ll give him the conch. Conch? That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking” (Golding 33). Ralph is explaining to the boys his idea of using the conch as a tool to keep things in order and this is spark of civilization for them. Unfortunately, at the end of the novel, the conch is sadly smashed into pieces by Roger, one of Jack’s followers. The destruction of the conch signifies the …show more content…
Jack creates the Lord of the Flies by severing the sow’s head and impaling it on a stake in the forest as an offering for the beast. Simon claims that The Lord of the Flies spoke to him about the nature of evil. The sow’s head can also be seen as a physical representation of “the beast” and as a symbol of Satan. In the author’s notes, “The “lord of the flies” is a translation of the Hebrew Ba’alzevuv. It has been suggested that it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which gave us this pungent and suggestive name for the Devil, a devil whose name suggest he is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic therefore fits in very well with Golding’s