Conch Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Often in our society we tend to form hierarchies and rules which dictate the way we run things, and in Lord of the Flies it’s no different. Although, the author uses the characters and other symbols in the book to portray society in many differing ways. For example, the Conch is probably the most obvious symbol, it could be seen as representing power or order. William Golding uses symbolization like this to shake our perception on how we see things. Another example, could be Ralph. He is constantly challenged as leader as the book progresses, but Jack starts to gain support despite clearly lacking the ability to lead with responsibility. This could represent how the author feels about how people choose their leaders in the real world. Lastly,

When Ralph blows the Conch and summons the tribe, they have a vote on who should be chief. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the Conch.” (Page 22) The entire tribe except for the coir votes for Ralph, simply because he had the Conch. I think this could be symbol for power, because of the way all the other kids respond when someone holds it. They seem to freeze in their tracks, look up, and listen. An example of this could be brought up when Ralph was holding an assembly, and all the kids started yelling because of debate over who all built the shelters. “Clamor rose at one. Everyone had built the shelters. Ralph had to wave the conch once more.” (Page 80) He managed to silence at least 40 kids just by waving this simple object. As for how the conch can represent order, the more Jack refuses to acknowledge it, the further the island plunged into chaos. Towards the end of the book when the conch gets shattered, all wisps of organized civilization is replaced with sheer savagery. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from the chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (Page 181) From that point on Ralph was the lone

“Jack clutched the conch to him. ‘He’s a coward himself.’” (Page 126) This could be hinting towards the ways we choose our political leaders today, for example. Sometimes leaders are frowned upon for avoiding conflict, even though said conflict would lead to certain loss of life. Another thing that can be related is that many people barely look into the policies of their leaders, all the kids in the tribe didn’t even care about what Ralph had planned. He was going to help them to rescue, but they didn’t seem to care. “He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t a perfect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing.” (Page 126) The entire time Jack was making his stand against Ralph he never made a point to explain why he would be a good leader, but instead seemed to be bent on slandering Ralph without logical reasoning or explanation. Many leaders today constantly slander one another, and no one seems to pay attention to what makes their candidate a good leader. The author may have left these clues in the book to show how the kids formed their hierarchy off of the world they had been exposed too, but also as symbols for how savage the real world can