William Golding Lord Of The Flies Conch Analysis

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In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys, fleeing a war struck civilization, attempt to create their own civilization after their plane crashes on a remote island. As two boys, Ralph and Piggy, arrive, they find a conch shell which they use to assemble the rest of the kids. As the story progresses, the conch becomes a symbol of the order that the boys attempt to develop. Albeit being significantly powerful at the the beginning of the novel, its importance unravels over the course of the story. As a result, while attempting to build this civilization, the evil that lurks beneath the boys erupts, riveting their society into savagery, and then the established order quickly goes downhill. Golding created the conch as …show more content…
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.” (17) This reveals its status of a symbol of power, and law and order, as it is summoning and organizing the civilization. As Ralph found this conch, he undoubtedly becomes leader of the boys’ civilization as the boys see the conch as power. The conch granted many powers, such as having the power to state your mind at the meetings if it was in your possession, the conch summons the meetings, and is respected mightily, which is extremely beneficial in the grassroots of this new …show more content…
First, in a very savage like action, Piggy is brutally murdered by a “rock [that] struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee”, leading the conch Piggy possessed, whom is uncoincidentally the only remaining evidence of civilization, to, “explode into a thousand white fragments and cease to exist.” (181) Civilization had dissipated into thin air, and, "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy." (202). The disaster had loomed and it now finally struck, with epic proportions.
The conch’s downfall, and in the end, demise, was due to the significant wanting of power. The conch being found resembled newfound power, but the shattering of the conch bears resemblance to a dreadful and radical shift in power, law, and order, resulting in a gruesome death of civilization as they know

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