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A Symbolic Moment In Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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A Symbolic Moment Arguably, the conch shell is one of the most symbolic items in the novel; the moment Ralph blows into it, the boys are brought together. It is this pivotal moment that makes Ralph appear to be the clear choice for a leader. It is easy to understand why the boys gravitated towards him, their first sight of Ralph was of him sitting, "the conch trailing from one hand, his head bowed on his knees;" (Golding, 19) a clear image of confidence and strength. The boys are easily swayed by his symbolic power and when it comes time to choose between Ralph and Jack, the majority of the boys rush to support Ralph as their leader. Why did they choose Ralph? The boys could have easily chosen Jack instead of Ralph, especially given the fact that Jack had previous experience as a leader; he is first seen surrounded by a group of faithful followers, his choir group, that continue to obey him on the island. Even Piggy, who showed support towards Ralph from the beginning, is intimidated by Jack's authoritative demeanor. However, Jack is missing that key characteristic that made Ralph so appealing: the symbol of power and strength. Any sense of leadership that Jack held was overshadowed by the image of Ralph standing confidently with the conch shell in hand. Ultimately, the young boys identified Ralph as their leader based on the power they believed he symbolized. …show more content…

Jack: A Deadly Competition When it came time to choose a Chief for the island, Jack never guessed there would be any competition. He confidently stated, "I ought to be chief because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." These qualifications may have held up in the "real world" but here on the island, the boys were looking for someone different, someone like

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"Ralph launched himself like a cat, stabbing, snarling, with the spear, and the savage doubled up." The Lord of the Flies by William Golding presents this character, Ralph, as trying very hard to fend for himself, even if it isn't in a conventional, civilized way. As shown in this example, people have been known to go to great lengths and to do things they would not ordinarily do to survive. For instance, Jack, a main character in the story, attacked another human, brutally and violently hunted an animal, and murdered a living, breathing person he was acquaintances with.

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IMAGERY The novel begins with a bunch of young boys who are trapped on an island after a plane crash. Throughout the novel William Golding includes various types of imagery to accurately describe each significant place on the island the boys are stranded on. An example would be calling the place where the airplane sliced through the brush “the scar”. The most realistic use of imagery is the description of the patch of the island where the boys would burn what they intended to be a "small fire."

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Almost all decisions Ralph makes is discussed with or is advised by Piggy. The boys at the beginning of the novel see Ralph as a strong, equiped leader with the shell and allow him to create the rules. Jack even goes to say, “‘We’ll have rules...lots of rules’” (25). Jack, despite becoming Ralph’s shadow (Freud), later on sees the importance the conch shell has for the group. In spite of a shell with the power of democracy, the idea becomes lost by the boy’s increasing desire to be of their own way and live their instinctual behaviors.

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Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding, an award winning Nobel Prize in Literature British author. William Golding was born on September 11, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. Golding wrote Lord of the Flies that soon became published on September 17, 1954. In the story, two characters that have a lot of differences between each other are Ralph and Jack. Examples of some of their differences include the fact that Ralph is a leader, Jack wants to be in control of things, and they both have different goals they want to achieve on the island.

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