The Lord Of The Flies Conch Analysis

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The conch in the Lord of the flies plays a huge role in the story. It symbolizes civilization, order and authority. The conch represents how in the beginning of the story the group of boys were able to work together and follow orders. As the story progresses, the conch slowly starts to loose its importance. It eventually breaks and all civilization is lost. It shows just how easily a stable system can fall apart when they fail to work together. “Careful! You'll break it! It's ever so valuable-” ( Golding 15).Golding wants the reader to know that the conch represents civilization and how fragile it is. Ralph and Piggy find the conch and Piggy explains what it is and what it does. “ We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us,” ( golding 16). Ralph uses the conch to assemble the rest who are on the island. This shows the first stage of civilization which is creation. In the beginning, they saw the conch as really important. Towards the …show more content…
The conch was used to establish and call for meetings. The conch is what made Ralph chief in the first place. The power of the conch is shown when only the person who held the conch could speak. Instead of everyone speaking at once. All the boys listen to what Ralph has to say and abide by the rules he set. Including making shelters and building fires. All of this is done in hopes of their rescue. The conch starts looking its importance and reeks havoc on the island. Hunting seems to be the only thing that matters the most to the boys. They neglect the importance of the fire and their rescue. Civilization, authority and order is represented by the conch in the story of the Lord of the flies. Working together is key to survival and rescue. At first when Ralph found the conch, everyone was able to work together with hopes of being rescued. As the story continues the conch loses its importance as savagery takes