Lord of the Flies Symbolism Essay

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Andy Spring Ms. Smith English 10 27 November 2012 Lord of the Flies: Symbolism and the Revelation of Human Nature Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, tells the harrowing tale of a group of British school boys who become stranded on an island. The boys struggle during their survival on the island. Dissension among the boy’s becomes strikingly clear when they break off into separated factions, descending deeper into the underbelly of anarchy and hostility. As the story progresses, the boys gradually descend, and eventually collapse, from the civilized world of law, order, and authority, to a world in which the primal beast within all humans is set forth. The conch, Ralph, and the signal fire are three symbols which show that savagery within all of us is constrained by the shackles of society. The conch is the first symbol used to express the theme that savagery is held back by the bonds of society. The conch sea shell is a relic reminiscent of society and order because it is a quintessential example of unifying the boys together to maintain order and civilization. The conch is a direct link to the civilized world by allying the boys. When Piggy and Ralph first land on the island they use the conch to summon the various survivors of the plane crash: “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-” (16). Ralph, the protagonist of the Lord of the Flies, blows the conch and the boys around the island convene to the sound. The conch, when initially found, is powerful to the boys. It is symbolic of order, power, unity, and is closely correlated with leadership. As the novel progresses, the power and psychological impact of the conch begins to falter as the boys abandon civilization: “If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued”
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