The Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies

The conch shell is very important piece in the novel, Lord of the Flies, for its significance stands for democracy. It was first discovered by Ralph and Piggy when they were wandering around the island. On page 18, Piggy says, “What’s that?” Ralph had stopped smiling and was pointing into the lagoon. Something creamy lay among the ferny weeds. “A stone.” “No. A shell.’ ’ Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement.-- Ralph spoke absently. The shell was interesting and pretty and a worthy plaything; but the vivid phantoms of his day-dream still interposed between him and Piggy, who in this context was an irrelevance. The palm sapling, bending, pushed the shell across the weeds. Ralph used one hand as a fulcrum and pressed down with …show more content…
It starts off with Piggy brainstorming and coming up with this idea; “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—” He beamed at Ralph. “That was what you meant, didn’t you? That’s why you got the conch out of the water?” After the discovery of the shell Piggy shares his intelligence with Ralph when he suggests to use the conch shell to call all the boys from around the island together. Then Ralph asks Piggy how to use the conch shell to call the others on page 20-21, he says, “How did your friend blow the conch?” “He kind of spat.”Ralph pursed his lips and squirted air into the shell, which emitted a low, farting noise. This amused both boys so much that Ralph went on squirting for some minutes, between bouts of laughter. “He blew from down here.” Ralph grasped the idea and hit the shell with air from his diaphragm. Immediately the thing sounded. A deep, harsh note boomed under the palms, spread through the intricacies of the forest and echoed back from the pink granite of the mountain. Clouds of birds rose from the treetops, and something squealed and ran in the undergrowth.” And sure enough, the little boys from all over the island came one by one over to Ralph and …show more content…
It says, "But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart". Furthermore, Ralph makes a “rule of the conch” on themselves, deciding that no one can speak unless he is holding the conch shell. Ralph establishes this by saying, "And another thing. We can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have 'Hands up' like at school.'He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth.'Then I'll give him the conch.''Conch?''That's what this thing is called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking.'" This shows authority and civilization because the conch helps establish rules and like I said in paragraph one, the conch represents