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Dynamic Symbols In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

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In Lord of the Flies there is a plane crash on an island. Ralph and Piggy find a conch to call out to the other boys. The boys assigned roles together. Jack became the hunter, and Ralph became the leader. The boys built shelters and a fire to live, and the fire is to help to signal rescuers. The boys’ Tension rises when the fire goes out. The boys emerge into two groups, Jack’s group and Ralph’s group. Roger pushes a boulder and kills Piggy. Then the boys go on to hunt Ralph but get rescued before they could kill Ralph. Golding’s use of dynamic symbols like the conch, the fire, and face paint in Lord of the Flies illustrates the fact that the stranded boys and their society are also changing. One dynamic symbol that reveals the change in the boys is the conch. …show more content…

Also the boys use the conch to call meetings. As a result of how the conch is used in the beginning of the novel it represents order and democracy. Later in the novel when Piggy is holding the conch, he is killed when Roger releases a boulder. Simultaneously, the conch is destroyed indicating the end of order and democracy on the island. Now chaos reigns on the island. The transformation of the significance of the conch indicates the boys have changed from civilized school boys to savages willing to kill their friends. The conch is just one dynamic symbol found in the novel. There are many more. A second dynamic symbol that illustrates the transformation in the boy is face paint. In the beginning the face paint is used to blend in with branches and leaves to hunt. The boys used face paint as camouflage to hunt for food so the animals could not see the boys in the bushes. Later in the novel Jack made his own group and used face paint as a uniform for his followers. How does the change in meaning behind the face paint represent a change within the

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