Lord of the Flies begins with a plane crash. The plane holds a group of people who are being transported to safety during World War Two. The plane crashed on an uninhabited island. The only survivors are a group of boys, all of the adults on the plane perish in the crash. The boys are left to survive and hope to be rescued. William Golding uses the conch shell as symbolism, to show the concept of power and authority. Throughout the novel the person with the conch has the authority to speak in the group. According to William Golding, without civilization and authority, man will act in evil ways unless society controls their immoral impulses.
In the beginning of the novel, the conch shell is a symbol of power and authority. When Piggy first finds the conch shell, he has Ralph blow in it to try to attract other people on the island. The novel states, "S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable--" (Golding 15). Other kids are hear the sound and move toward Piggy and Ralph. The boys then vote who should be leader among everyone. Ralph wins the vote and decides that the conch shell should be the symbol of authority because that …show more content…
The more the boys on the island realize that they can do whatever they want, the more violent and reckless they become. For example, when they kill a pig, all of the boys gather around it and chant, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill the blood!" (Golding 152). This shows that boys are becoming violent due to the fact that they violently chant whenever they kill a pig for food. The boys become reckless when one of the boys rolls a boulder down the hill and strikes Piggy to kill him. Golding states, "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" (Golding
In the beginning of the novel, the conch shell is a symbol of power and authority. When Piggy first finds the conch shell, he has Ralph blow in it to try to attract other people on the island. The novel states, "S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable--" (Golding 15). Other kids are hear the sound and move toward Piggy and Ralph. The boys then vote who should be leader among everyone. Ralph wins the vote and decides that the conch shell should be the symbol of authority because that …show more content…
The more the boys on the island realize that they can do whatever they want, the more violent and reckless they become. For example, when they kill a pig, all of the boys gather around it and chant, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill the blood!" (Golding 152). This shows that boys are becoming violent due to the fact that they violently chant whenever they kill a pig for food. The boys become reckless when one of the boys rolls a boulder down the hill and strikes Piggy to kill him. Golding states, "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" (Golding