Essay about The Conch in William Goldings Lord of the Flies

The Conch in William Goldings Lord of the Flies In William Goldings novel â€Å"Lord of the Flies† he uses a lot of symbolism. The entire book is microcosm to the real world, as the novel is set at the time when World War II was going on and on the island there is a hunt at the end of the book symbolic of the war. A symbol Golding uses throughout the book is the conch. It represents authority and order. The person holding the conch had the power, and it created order and rules since when it was called, everyone had to listen and order is displayed by the meetings or gatherings that it’s used to call and hold. In this essay I will be explaining how William Golding used the conch in the â€Å"Lord†¦show more content†¦You could use shells to buy food, clothes and other general items. On the island the shell is worthless as they cannot buy anything with it or sell it for food as they are only people on the island. This is why I believe that Golding used a conch as historically, it is precious, expensive and unique. Towards the end of the novel, Jack realises that it is worthless and rebels against the shell and at it represents, civilization, order and democracy. He believes that it is â€Å"just a shell.† The Conchs power is presented in the very beginning as the children vote for Ralph to be chief just because he was the one with the Conch. Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph! Let him be chief with the trumpet thing this excerpt from Page 22 shows how everybody seems to think that power, responsibility and leadership skills comes from the Conch. Another Example of the Conchs Power is the fact that through out the novel the conch is the only tool that can call a meeting and wherever the Conch is that’s where the meeting is. No other symbol in â€Å"Lord of the Flies† holds so much power. This is one of the reasons that Jack Merridew disrespects the Conch. He wants to break the spell the symbol has on everybody.Show MoreRelatedLord Of The Flies : Representation Of Violence And War1611 Words   |  7 PagesLord Of The Flies: Representation Of Violence and War Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, states that â€Å" The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.† In William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies, societal topics run rampant throughout the text with Golding’s use of individuals to represent different aspects of society. Many writers view the Lord Of The Flies as an allegory, as societal topics such as politics make appearances throughout the text. InRead MoreLord of The Flies Essay1673 Words   |  7 PagesLord of the Flies was published in 1954 by William Golding. Today Lord of the Flies is a well known literary criticism. Many schools require their students to read Lord of the Flies because of the literary criticisms in the book. 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