The conch is governing authority, keeping those desperate for power under law and giving one the opportunity to speak ones mind as only the person holding the conch is permitted to speak, “Let him have the conch!” shouts Piggy. “Let him have it!”. Golding utilizes the character of Ralph to embody, law and order and democracy through him admonishing one of the “biguns” to let a “littleun” have a chance to speak. In the beginning of the novel the younger boys contributed greatly to the election of Ralph as chief. In Lord of the Flies, the conch is blown to announce to the group that it is time to hold an assembly at the platform to discuss things of importance such as the building and maintenance of the signal fire, the hunting and capture of pigs and the
He can hold it when he’s speaking.”(33). At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, everyone follows Ralph’s rule that he who holds the conch may speak, so the conch represents authority, but as the novel progresses, the boys on the island begin to fear the power struggle between Ralph and Jack, and at this point in the story the conch begins to represent a coercive power due to the fear the power struggle strikes in the other characters. The boys are forced to take sides between Jack and Ralph and a feeling of trepidation is produced. The conch is also an excellent symbol because it represents the mental and physical
The only reason they voted for Ralph was because he had the conch. This shows how important the conch was to all the kids at first, but as the boys became more and more savage the conch started to be worthless to them, along with civilization and order. The conch was originally a powerful symbol of civilization and leadership, but the boys stopped caring about it, so they stopped caring about the last bit of civilization they still had. There was still a small sense of civilization left in all the children that kept that kept them from becoming total savages. But that was lost when Roger killed Piggy and destroyed the conch.
Also, his character traits impacts whether he is a good leader or a bad leader. Basically, Piggy is the smartest boy on the island, but due to his recent living conditions before the crash and his self-esteem issues, he is unfit to be a leader. Piggy is the smartest person on the island and gives Ralph most of all his ideas. Ralph is the leader of the group, but when he has to make decisions he can’t think that well. Toward the end of the book, Ralph starts to have mind blanks, but Piggy helps him through them.
The Worst Beast In a person’s life, decisions affect everything they do. The struggle between good and evil can complicate everyday choices. When a war breaks out and a group of boys are left to survive on an island all alone, they are faced with several tough decisions. Each of the boys must make a choice that could affect everyone on the island. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, the character Piggy proves his leadership abilities by his reasoning, concern for others, and trying to keep peace.
The Destiny of Ralph In the book Lord of the Flies, Ralph is one of the most important characters. Although he is the only one who can be leader at the time which kids first meet each other, his failure is doomed since he becomes the leader. There are many factors leading to Ralph’s failure like his drawback to his personality; however, the most important three factors are kids’ childishness, Jack’s power and reason for Ralph to become a leader is just the conch. Here comes the first reason. To begin with, ID, the part of the mind that represents disorder, dominates most kids, especially for littluns.
Ralph, a boy at the age of twelve or thirteen, becomes the leader of the group early in the book. His ability to lead is evident, and his insight is surprisingly advanced for a twelve year old. For example, his ability to see the intelligence in Piggy early on in the book soon gives him the advantage of Piggy’s trust later on. His finding the conch and summoning the boys automatically makes him leader. Realizing this, he understands that he must do what’s right in order to get them off the island.
When is loses its power, chaos occurs. For example when Jack states, “And the conch doesn’t count at this end of the island−” (Golding, 166). They have an argument and begin a chant. Jack leads the chant and Simon crawls out of the forest to be brutally murdered by the boys. This shows that when a once huge symbolism of power loses its significance, mayhem takes place.
What Seemed to be Recess In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of English school boys become stranded on an island that appears to be happy hunting grounds. The boys, acting on their first instinct, create a microcosm to model the society they have been so used to seeing. However, Golding emphasizes that savagery and evil exist in everyone and that the defects of the society on the island come from the defects in the boy’s character. Ralph, the protagonist of the novel, loses his innocence as a result of the primitive society on the island. Ralph is introduced as an optimistic boy.
Tarjah Faikai CP English 1 Mrs. Power 12/15/13 Lord of the Flies essay Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding. Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of schoolboys from Britain whose plane is shot down over deserted island. There are no rules or adults on the island, so the boys begin to turn to savages. Ralph’s inability to persuade the boys to behave civilly shows the potential evil in everyone. Ralph was probably the most influential person at the beginning of the novel since he was a leader.