Symbolism in the Lord of the Flies

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The Conch Shell Who has not held a conch shell up to their ears and listened for the sound of the ocean? It is a myth told to every child who has ever been to the beach. However, in William Golding's Lord of the Flies the conch shell represents much more. In the novel, the shell symbolizes civilization, order and peace. The conch help them figure out how to maintain civilization shortly after they arrived there. When the war plane crashed on the island the boys went out exploring the islands terrain. Ralph and Piggy went walking near the water, thats when Ralph looked down and saw the conch not to far from the shore. They ran to find the rest of the boys on the island to show them the conch. Together they decided the conch was going to be used to call assembly’s that all the boys must attend. Ralph was the owner of the conch so, when he blew into it that is when the boys would come running and join each other. During these assembly they would talk about what they were going to do to keep themselves alive on the island. The conch also helped them keep proper order and peace. When the boys were all together whomever had the conch was allowed to talk and all the others had to stay quiet and listen to the speaker . This made it so the boys were not constantly talking over each other. Through out the novel the conch became less important to the boys. When they split into two separate groups only Ralphs side still obeyed the rules of the conch and still had some civilization. While Jacks group only cared about getting food and have a good time on the island. As the boys slowly leave Ralph group and join Jacks it shows how less of the boys still care about being a civilized group. Soon it was only Ralph and Piggy who believed that they needed the conch and rules. When Ralph and Piggy went over to the feast with Jacks group Piggy tried to use the conch so he could say

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