Lord Of The Flies Conch

The novel written by William Golding, The Lord of The Flies, is a story about kids that are allowed to govern themselves; they get to make up the rules and choose if they will follow them or not. In the strive to create a civilization in which they can survive, and eventually get rescued, they have to find ways to stay together, but, while not only failing to do so, they become savages and go around distributing fear amongst themselves. The fear then creates a cycle, where the more fear there is the less the rules apply and the more one becomes savage and imposes fear on others. Therefore, the use of a conch, Golding symbolizes the rules and civilization needed by humans to maintain order and avoid savagery, which then results in fear.
The …show more content…
This is seen when they are able to cold bloodedly kill pigs and mock it’s pain. “Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain. ‘Ow! Stop it! You’re hurting!’ The butt end of a spear fell on his back as he blundered among them… They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it.” (Golding 114). Through the boys’ excitement, Robert, who tries to mock the pigs pain and terror, is hurt by the others. Thus proving that the more they distant themselves from the conch the more savage they become. If the boys had not been stuck on the island they would not have to kill and would remain innocent, civilized boys; there wouldn’t be any “spears” to use, or any “terror” to “mock”. The boys have been acquiring the trait of evil as their innocence is lost; the more the conch gets pushed to the side and the more the rules are dismissed. Without rules there is a struggle to keep power, and it becomes a competition among Ralph and Jack to see who can maintain leadership, or gain it: “‘Hands up,’ said Jack strongly, ‘whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?’ The silence continued, breathless and heavy and full of shame. Slowly the red drained from Jack’s cheeks, and then came …show more content…
The reason that government was created was to get rid of state of nature, where anything was fair game; stealing, killing, or hurting each other. Sadly for these boys they got rid of government for the state of nature where they could pursue what they wanted without any consequences, up until they were “trying to cry for mercy” (Golding 200). They could not predict what would happen without rules, yet they wanted to get rid of them to enjoy “fun and games” (Golding 200), only to find out that the very thing they destroyed was the thing that they most desperately needed. Although they got rescued, there were two boys killed due to their savagery and the survivors were “shuddering spasms of grief.” (Golding 202) as they looked back to the wreckage on the island and their actions. The memories haunt them and the fear will live within them every time they think back the savages they were when there were no