A conch symbolizes convolutions suggesting the rising and setting of the sun, as well as a recognition of worldly power, royalty, and an ear that hears the divine world. In this book, the conch symbolizes a feeling of power and organization of society at the beginning of the story. The first major occurrence of the conch shell is at the very beginning of the book, when Ralph spots the shiny, rare object in the water, "A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mom would come. It's ever so valuable" (Golding15).
William Golding uses symbolism in the form of the conch to represents the concept of society. The boys’ evolving relationship with the conch illustrates Golding’s theme that humans, when removed form the pressures of civilized authority, will become evil. In the beginning, the boys view the conch as an important symbol that unites them and gives them the power to deal with their difficult situation. When the conch is first found and blown, it brings everyone together: “Ralph found his breath and blew a series of short blasts. Piggy exclaimed, ‘There’s one!’” (Golding 16).
In the story “The Sea Devil” the theme is that humans should respect nature and not underestimate it as one day nature could save you or force you to be at the mercy of it. For example in the story the man is saved by the porpoise because the man had saved it once. If the man did not save the porpoise, he could have died because the porpoise attacked the manta ray and caused the manta ray to swim back to shallow water. If the man did not save the porpoise, the man would have died an excruciating death. The next example in the story occurs when the man releases the mullet he caught.
However, as McCarron states, this lack of interest is only apparent; reading Lord of the Flies a world dominated by wars, barbarism and evil instinct reveals, notions that characterized the Second World War. The novel is full of symbols. Even the main characters symbolize certain positive or negative values. In the following the symbols of civilization used in the novel will be presented. It will be also interesting to observe what each symbol means for Piggy, the Reason, Jack, the Savage and Ralph, the one somewhere in between.
Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy meets and discovers a conch shell on the beach. Ralph accepts idea of piggy and when they push air through the conch the sound make the other boys in the island to meets together. The boys are left to govern themselves, range in age that Ralph and Jack two older boys . They votes to put Ralph leader of them . Thus, he was the boy has a conch .The leadership was the key of all trouble faced them.
Everybody has goals in their life, whether they complete those goals or let them slip on by determines our futures. I believe that Brevard can help me accomplish all my set goals for my education. Brevard has given me an opportunity to continue playing volleyball, becoming a student athlete has been a huge dream of mine since I was a freshman in high school. Also, I believe Brevard and its community has a lot to offer. The population of the school, I feel it would be a perfect atmosphere to help me reach my potential goals.
The conch is both a symbol in the boys’ heads, as well as in their hands. The conch is both a theoretical symbol meaning it is both physical and mental. In their heads, they know that the conch is to be respected. In their hands, they are aware that they have the power to speak only when they are holding the white shell, like they would have had to raise their hand in class to speak. When they gather around for the first time after Ralph summons them, he declares “We’ll have rules…lots of rules!
Together, they represent a civilized society. And without them, the civilized become savage. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” (Chapter 12.Page 202). The second, Ralph and the Conch Shell. Ralph represents Leadership.
While Jack was unable to make the fire, the narrator stated “His voice rose to a shriek of terror as Jack snatched the glasses off his face.”(Golding, 40) This quote shows how there is a need for Piggy’s glasses, Jack snatching the glasses off Piggy, gives the reader an illustration of how the glasses symbolize power, because without the glasses, Jack wouldn’t be able to start the fire, and the fire gives comfort and is the way to cook food. This is how Piggy’s glasses have a significant value of power. Thirdly, Piggy’s glasses also represent scientific knowledge. “His specs – use them as burning glasses!” (Golding, 40) The glasses represent scientific knowledge, which means that it can aid humanity, or destroy it. It aids the group of kids by starting the fire, but without the glasses, it can completely destroy humanity, because there would be no way of making the fire, which leads to discomfort and starvation.
Lord of the Flies as an Allegory to the Fall of Man Many times, we see that authors have used allegories in literature, not only because they supply good backbone and structure to create a story upon, but because they help to relay history to a younger generation in a way that is interesting and stimulating. This also serves as a reality check to an older audience that has strayed from the morals and values enshrined in the original story. More than any other, we see that these allegories are slightly abstract retellings of passages taken from the Bible. To be an allegory, however, a novel cannot simply draw a moral from the Bible, or any other work, and embellish upon it, but instead it must match in every symbolic way to the piece which it represents. This is the case in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies in relation to the Fall of Man depicted in Genesis 3:1-24 of the Bible.