Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Flies is an allegory, in which Golding uses objects and people to represent ideas. Four symbols that represent ideas are the conch shell, the pig’s head, fire, and Piggy’s glasses. The conch shell that Golding uses is used to represent order within the group, how the group is run, and how ideas and thoughts are put into action; “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. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart. "Him with the shell." "Ralph! Ralph!" "Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing." …show more content…
"Piggy! Have you got any matches?" The other boys took up the cry till the mountain rang. Piggy shook his head and came to the pile. "My! You've made a big heap, haven't you?" Jack pointed suddenly. "His specs--use them as burning glasses!" Piggy was surrounded before he could back away. "Here--let me go!" His voice rose to a shriek of terror as Jack snatched the glasses off his face. "Mind out! Give 'em back! I can hardly see! You'll break the conch!" Ralph elbowed him to the side and knelt by the pile. "Stand out of the light." There was pushing and pulling and officious cries. Ralph moved the lenses back and forth, this way and that, till a glossy white image of the declining sun lay on a piece of rotten wood. Almost at once a thin trickle of smoke rose up and made him cough. Jack knelt too and blew gently, so that the smoke drifted away, thickening, and a tiny flame appeared. The flame, nearly invisible at first in that bright sunlight, enveloped a small twig, grew, was enriched with color and reached up to a branch which exploded with a sharp crack. The flame flapped higher and the boys broke into a cheer.” (Golding). Golding commented on human nature through Piggy’s glasses by showing greed through Jack. Jack wanted Piggy’s specs to start a fire, but instead of asking for them politely he snatched them from Piggy like they were not his to begin