Civilizations contain many aspects that govern the fate of them. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding, using allegory, establishes a microcosm with several aspects that correlate to those of civilization. On a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean, several British schoolboys crash-land. Through the use of the stranded, unchaperoned boys, he shows how the presences of these aspects affect civilization. He brilliantly uses simple objects such as the conch, the glasses, and the fire to illustrate these features of civilization. The glasses symbolize intelligence, the conch symbolizes order, and the fire symbolizes hope.
Foremost, Golding uses Piggy’s glasses to symbolize intelligence. Piggy is the most intelligent boy of the group. He showcases …show more content…
The conch is first used authoritatively by Ralph to summon the boys shortly after they landed on the island. Its role becomes evident when the boys elect “[the boy] with the shell” as chief (22). Through this, the conch is shown a symbol of order since it is used in this way to elect a leader. Its use as a tool to call the boys also shows how “order” can help those who are lost. As time passes, the conch is used to call the others to a meeting and “to have ‘Hands up’ like at school” to signify who has the right to speak (33). The boys use the conch to keep themselves in check, and when the conch is present, order is present, making them one in the same. Despite the ‘hands up’ rule, Jack repeatedly speaks out of turn when Piggy possesses it. This signifies how order is fragile when it is in the hands of the weak, since Jack views Piggy as weak. This is similar to Jack’s view of Ralph later in the story. As the story progresses, Jack becomes more skilled at hunting. He finds an area of expertise in which Ralph is inferior and sees Ralph as a weaker individual. The conch, being possessed by ‘weak’ Ralph, suddenly becomes less significant to Jack and eventually, his tribe. This sudden change is gruesomely depicted when Piggy attempts to use it to establish order among the new tribe. Using a boulder, Roger kills Piggy and “the conch [explodes] into a thousand white fragments and [ceases] to exist” (181). This destruction of the conch symbolizes the end of order as Ralph would have seen it, in which all have a voice. Unfortunately for Piggy, he was unaware a new order had already been established. Instead of the conch, the pig skull symbolizes this new order, which is the sow’s decomposed head that Jack decapitated. Golding ironically alludes to this by mentioning that “the skull gleamed as white as ever the conch had done” (185). The pig skull establishes a “survival of the fittest” type of order among the
Foremost, Golding uses Piggy’s glasses to symbolize intelligence. Piggy is the most intelligent boy of the group. He showcases …show more content…
The conch is first used authoritatively by Ralph to summon the boys shortly after they landed on the island. Its role becomes evident when the boys elect “[the boy] with the shell” as chief (22). Through this, the conch is shown a symbol of order since it is used in this way to elect a leader. Its use as a tool to call the boys also shows how “order” can help those who are lost. As time passes, the conch is used to call the others to a meeting and “to have ‘Hands up’ like at school” to signify who has the right to speak (33). The boys use the conch to keep themselves in check, and when the conch is present, order is present, making them one in the same. Despite the ‘hands up’ rule, Jack repeatedly speaks out of turn when Piggy possesses it. This signifies how order is fragile when it is in the hands of the weak, since Jack views Piggy as weak. This is similar to Jack’s view of Ralph later in the story. As the story progresses, Jack becomes more skilled at hunting. He finds an area of expertise in which Ralph is inferior and sees Ralph as a weaker individual. The conch, being possessed by ‘weak’ Ralph, suddenly becomes less significant to Jack and eventually, his tribe. This sudden change is gruesomely depicted when Piggy attempts to use it to establish order among the new tribe. Using a boulder, Roger kills Piggy and “the conch [explodes] into a thousand white fragments and [ceases] to exist” (181). This destruction of the conch symbolizes the end of order as Ralph would have seen it, in which all have a voice. Unfortunately for Piggy, he was unaware a new order had already been established. Instead of the conch, the pig skull symbolizes this new order, which is the sow’s decomposed head that Jack decapitated. Golding ironically alludes to this by mentioning that “the skull gleamed as white as ever the conch had done” (185). The pig skull establishes a “survival of the fittest” type of order among the