However, by the end of the novel when the conch shell breaks at a confrontation between Jack and Ralp, this exemplifies the complete loss of order and democracy. Simon liked to have time by himself to avoid the bickering between the other boys. Simon found a clearing away from everyone else and eventually stumbled across the beast that everyone in the tribe was so terrified by. Simon ran to tell the tribe that the beast was just a dead parachutist. However, while Simon was trying to explain that the beast was not real he was mistaken for the beast.
After the tribes separated, Jack held a feast and making sure what he said was very clear, “The conch does not count on this side of the island” (Golding, 150). This is another hidden symbol that Jack did not want rules or regulations. Ultimately, the conch was killed along with Piggy; this symbolized the beginning of the end of Ralph. It was also the destruction of the conch that represented the full transition to savagery of the
Through the story, we see the boys loose their ability to stay civil and an example is, “The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). This shows that as the boys started to become savage, they lost all their ability to be civil. Also, since Piggy still believed in the good and civility in people, when he died and the conch broke, we could see that they lost all touch to their past, civil lives. As the boys become more savage, they start becoming what they feared most, the Beastie. To the boys, the Beastie is portrayed as a wild beast that they must hunt down and is a higher power, but what the beast symbolizes is the human reaction to fear.
Ralph represented order. He was the leader of the boys on the island; Jack represented the cruelty on the island. He is the reason why the killing began. In chapter four it quotes about jack saying “his mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink. “what William Golding means is that jack shows his first type of savagery by attempting to kill a pig, unfortunately he fails because he never killed anything or anyone before.
His importance has lead to him ordering his hunters to forget about the beast so that they wouldn’t have any nightmares. This is illustrated when he says ‘Jack paused cradling the conch’ This suggests that he wants to have things his own way and is mostly concerned about himself Jack is presented as a violent and impulsive character. He tries to assert power and authority over the boys with threat and violence and he is selfish, only thinking about what he wants at
This statement later contradicts with the actions he commits and it demonstrates the rapid effect the new surroundings has on his manner of thinking. Humans, although raised by civilized and proper morals, are still susceptible to human nature when put under appropriate situations. Further into the months on the island that corrupted Jack, “he tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up”(p.51). At this point, Jack becomes greatly overcome by a sense of power and this drives him to commit violent deeds. The inner aggressiveness of man is revealed and with every kill, the desire to continue killing grows.
But this civil action does not withstand for long, as soon after Jack presents the idea to build a fire, and all the boys immaturely run to create one; this rational thinking leads to the disappearance of the small boy with the scar on his face. Lost within the hungry fire we never see him again. After this incident the constraints of society are recognized as the boys are confused and ashamed by the
In the book, after the area that Paul and his company were fighting was gassed, one of his comrades was losing air in his mask, so he instinctively removed his mask and inhaled the poison, then die immediately. In films and on television the winners of a battle often win large pieces of land and quickly gain control of the war. But Erich Maria Remarque, the author, shows that they only win insignificant little pieces of land, which unfortunately are usual lost again later. A
“the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments” “’There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-‘“(page 181). This shows that the “tribe” of civilization is gone because the conch is destroyed; the conch being one of the most important things to the civilized side. The signal fire burns on the mountain, and later on the beach, to attract the notice of passing ships that might be able to rescue the boys. So, the signal fire becomes a measurement of the boys’ connection to civilization.
When Jack killed the pig, he cut off its head and put it on a stick, which was found by Simon. Simon was known for going unconscious for a short period of time; he was just about to go unconscious and had a vision of him talking to the head of the pig which was covered in flies. (This is how the book got its name) The pig’s head, tells Simon that the beast isn’t something they can kill; it’s the evil inside of all of them, “’Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. ‘You knew, didn’t you?