Symbols In Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

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In today’s world, we have many symbols that have deep meanings to us from our present and past. We have the eagle, United States Flag, and more. In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbols that the boys hold on to and have a deep meaning too. The three main symbols in the book are the conch, fire, and face paint which have a deeper meaning to the boys. The readers find this out right away while reading this page turning book. The boys acquire symbols which causes them to have more of a plan and manner of civilization while on the island. The very first important symbol is the conch, which was introduced to the readers straight away in chapter one by Ralph and Piggy. “S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it…”(15). The second symbol is the fire, which Ralph is obsessed with. After they call all the other boys by the conch, they have a meeting and that's how the fire was brought up. The …show more content…
The meaning of the conch is leadership, rules, and power which the boys use as “...I’ll give the conch to the next person who speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.”(33). Later on in the book, the boys will get into more fights about it because they will start to go against it. The fire symbolizes hope for the boys as well as survival. For some boys, it means even more, to Ralph it’s about rescue and to Jack it’s about a feast. Which causes conflict between the two boys, especially since Jack doesn't like Ralph ever since Ralph became the chief. The remaining symbol, face paint, symbolizes masking of true human nature as well as allowing for more violent behavior. Jack takes advantage of this, “For hunting. Like in war. You know-dazzle paint. Like thing trying to look like something else--”(63). The meaning of these symbols plays an important role in the book which readers find out the more they