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Conch Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the conch symbolizes a government. This shell, that Ralph and Piggy have found, gives order and authority. It also shows how fragile the government is. The first day on the island, when Ralph has been voted as chief, he sets up his ideal government, which is a some sort of a democratic union. The rules set are based on all of the boys agreement, but as time passes by, their “government” starts corrupting. The boys start making up their own rules and no longer following the rules they had set up their first day on the island, as the boys fight, they slowly start breaking their group apart. Until finally, the conch breaks into little pieces. And both the conch and their government, fails to exist after this incident. …show more content…

When the boys first got on the island, they hear a noise. A noise that came from the conch shell. Interested, the boys meet up where it was sounded. Ralph, the boy who blew the conch and gets voted as chief, and sets up rules regarding the conch, “give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking” (Golding 33). Ralph doesn’t want more than one person talking at a time, so he sets up a system using the conch, the person who is holding the opaque shell, has the authority to speak and give their opinions when they are all assembled. This conch is keeping the boys organized. Carefully, the boys have to be around the shell, knowing it is fragile, “[h]e caressed the shell respectfully” (38). Some boys, like Piggy, know how valuable the conch is. So, they act wary around shell because they respect it and don’t want anything happening to

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The conch shell loses its power and influence over the boys as their island civilization deteriorates and they fall into savagery. The smashing of the conch shell symbolizes the demise of the civilized instinct within a majority of the boys on the island. The Signal Fire- It burns on the mountain and the beach; to grab the attention of passing ships that could potentially save the boys.

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The first time the reader realizes the power of the conch is in the beginning whenever the conch was found on the island. To illustrate Ralph says “ I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak, he can hold it when he’s speaking.”(33 ) This quote shows power and keeping everyone in line at the beginning of their journey on the island. For when someone raises the conch all the other boys are instructed to be quiet and listen to the speaker.

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“And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school” (Ralph 25). Once he finds out that they were all trapped on the island, Ralph immediately forms a type of society that he is used to for the boys to ensure stability. This civilization is all based on the conch shell, which is used to construct gatherings and to let the boys have permission to speak.

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The conch was the last thing that held onto democracy, and after the conch had been destroyed, everything that Piggy and Ralph had fought for had been demolished and disappeared forever on the island. Overall, the conch symbolized order, law and democracy in the beginning of the Lord of the Flies. It was mainly used to call assemblies and allowed the person that held it to share their thoughts without being interrupted by another. As the novel advanced, the boys grew more savage which lead to the diminishing of the conch and Piggy. Along with the conch, the civil instinct of the boys had

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In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies the Conch represents power and order. The Power of the Conch is characterized when the boys have to hold the conch in order to speak in power. Order is shown in when the person has ownership of the conch there is a meeting held and everyone must tune in to the shell holder. “‘Him with the shell.”

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This item was the first thing shown to represent authority with it, a rule they were still accustomed to. " Shut up," said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch". With the raising of this simple beach found object silence is drawn across across the fellow boys because of the respect they have the object. But with the regression of respect for Ralph caused by Jack's often bursts of disagreement for him and him sharing his views and points when he didn't have the conch subconsciously lead the the kids to see the conch is a mere shell.

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The conch shell symbolizes the high hand of authority. Golding uses this to keep the boys on the island in order. In the beginning of the novel, Golding introduces the two main characters Ralph, and Piggy. Ralph and Piggy meet each other, and have found the conch.

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The conch shell is first found by Piggy and Ralph who use it to call for survivors. The shell is then established as a symbol of democracy, as found in this quote, “... I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking,” (33). Allowing each boy to speak when in possession of the conch shows that, although Ralph is chief, all boys can have a say in the rulings of the island. This democratic system is a beginning representation of our world in which everyone knows their place and there is overall peace.

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The destruction of the conch occurred when the boys had fully lost their innocence and had turned “Savage.” The destruction of the conch took place after Jack decided to leave Ralph and start his own tribe on the other side of the island and coerced many of Ralph’s followers to join him, and this is when the demise of civilized thoughts and order really occurred. “... The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). The destruction of the conch ment the boys had returned to their primitive stages, in which civilization and order didn’t exist, only savagery existed. The conch was proof of the boys being civilized, and on the opposite side of the spectrum, the conch breaking was showing how they had lost all sense of civilization and have become completely savage.

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In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses items and people to symbolize many different things. These symbolic things include Piggy’s glasses, Simon’s epilepsy, the Lord of the Flies, and arguably the most important symbol, the conch shell. The conch shell was first found in the water by Piggy, who then comes up with the idea of using the conch as a blow horn to call for meetings. Throughout Lord of the Flies, the conch shell becomes not only associated with Ralph and his leadership, but with Piggy and his intuitive and wise ideas and Jack and his dictator-like, irresponsible authority. The conch shell, representing law and order, assisted in the election of Ralph as chief and ultimately determines the future of the island.

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Ralph notices the discord but resolves it by enforcing, “I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he 's speaking” (Golding 33). The conch represents the discipline of the boys and their civilization. Since Ralph thought to use the conch as a speaking system, the conch represents his leadership and authority over the boys. It also represents his authority because he is the only boy that does not need the conch to speak.

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In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the conch is a primary symbol, which represents civility and order. Throughout the book it served as a power tool that the boys highly respected, in fact, the symbolism of the conch begins before it is even blown. Ralph is the one who originally discovers and posses the shell, but it’s Piggy who explains it’s significance. Piggy has to teach Ralph how to blow it; this shows how from the beginning the conch is linked with both Piggy and Ralph.

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but it sounds like they don’t care. “The conch doesn't count at this end of the island” (Golding 150). Here Golding sets a scene where it sounds like the boys are arguing about something. It shows how the boys are starting to rebel against the conch which means they are disagreeing with the law and order they have set on the island. It is to the point they say the conch does not mean anything to them anymore which falls in the category of loss of order.

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This is an example of how the conch symbolizes the rules within the boys society because the conch is what tells when the boys when they can talk. The rules created by the conch is what led to a lot of the boys disagreements which slowly drove them to become¨beasts¨. Overall the conch is the most symbolic piece in Lord of the Flies because it symbolizes the boys rules, their civilization, and power over the boys. This is important to the theme of the story because the conch helps the boys realize that they are the beast all along. The conch helps the boys to notice this because when it breaks they realize it was controlling them all along and making them the

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