The first quote that shows us how important the Conch is when Piggy and Ralph used the conch to call the other boys when they taught they were alone on the island, “The conch, we can use this to call others. Have a meeting, they’ll come when they hear us (p. 16)” .We also do see how the boys are attracted to the conch like a magnet and quickly goes to the person who blows the conch, “By the time Ralph had finish blowing the Conch, the platform was crowded (p. 32)” .Besides that, the Conch also is an idea of civilization, rules and law.
Ralph finds the conch along the beach and is fascinated by its workings. The conch starts Ralph’s reign as he blows it, grabbing the island boys’ attention. As they gather together and speak their business of who they are they decide a need for a leader. The boys see Ralph as their new chief as they believe he is the fittest. Their prying eyes focus on Ralph as he commends them on how to survive.
In Lord of The Flies by William Golding, a group of English boys find themselves stranded on an island when their plane crashes. boy named Ralph finds a conch and uses it to call all of the other boys. Without any adults they establish their own government and elect Ralph as their chief. While writing Lord of The Flies, William Golding uses symbols to illustrate a deeper meaning in things like the conch, the fire, and the beast.
Even though Ralph did not make a big deal about wanting to be chief, the conch was one of the main things that convinced the others to elect Ralph as their leader. At the beginning of the Lord of the Flies, the conch was known to be very powerful and represented, law, order, democracy, gave them a freedom of speech and it was something that attached the boys to
“Let him be the chief, the one with the trumpet thing”. The kids on the island had to choose a chief, someone who would help them if needed, someone who is brave and caring. Their options were either Jack or Ralph. To begin with, Jack was a strict leader; he would force the kids to wear their uniforms and listen to him. Granted, he thought that he was always right and demanded the kids to obey him and respect him.
Look, there ain’t no need, Ralph! What’re the others going to think?” (Golding, 158) The conch started off as a symbol of calmness and was supposed to help the boys keep order, as the conch being a “talking piece”. Later on, it turned into chaos, causing a lot of issues between the boys, and not being the symbol of calmness as it had started off as in the novel.
The conch represents civilization and authority. However, later the conch starts to lose the sense of the authority. Everybody respects the conch at the beginning of the book. “Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence.”
Early in chapter 1, one of the boys named Piggy finds it in the water and gives it to Ralph. Since Ralph is in possession of the conch, he feels as though he has a sense of power and decides that they should vote on who should be chief. On page 22, Golding states, “This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest, but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by the acclaim of Ralph himself.” Obviously Ralph is chosen, and this makes Jack very annoyed from the start.
Ralph does not care about Piggy’s feelings or well-being. Not only is Ralph apathetic towards Piggy, he also takes Piggy’s ideas as his own, placing himself on an undeserving pedestal as the group leader. When Piggy and Ralph were stranded from the other boys on the island, it is Piggy who steps into action, finds the conch, and turns it into a way to call the others (15-16). Yet, Ralph is the one who blows the conch and indirectly takes credit for the ingenious idea. When voting for a chief on the island the boys exclaim, “[l]et him be chief with the trumpet-thing,” (22).
The conch shell plays a big part in Ralph’s authority and order. His leadership skills, along with the conch by his side, is what made the other kids on the island listen and idolize him. Golding glorifies the power of Ralph and his conch shell in order to represent control, which is important to the ongoing order and regulation of the boys throughout their time on the island. Without the shell, there would be no order among the lives of the boys on the uninhabited island. In addition to Ralph promoting the power of the conch, Jack also agrees and emphasizes that in order to run a society, there must be a strong and rational set of rules that needs to be followed.
First, Ralph calls an assembly using the conch. During the assembly things get out of hand and Ralph yells, "shut up" and lifts the conch. (p22) Here the conch is used as a symbol of power by Ralph to get people to quiet down and listen. This is important later because this
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).
The Lord of the Flies is ultimately a novel about power and how humans yearn to have the ultimate supremacy. One of the first things discovered on the island is the conch shell. Ralph finds it at the bottom of a lagoon, and it is a very valuable object. With the shell, Ralph is able to call all of the other boys to him. When the schoolboys hear the shell and realize what is happening, they answer the call of the conch and flock to Ralph.
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.
(Golding 16-17). This quote shows that the majority of children thinks and agrees with that the conch symbolizes the power, and the one who has conch should be the chief. The children vote for Ralph as the chief only because he gets the conch. After the election, “Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence” (Golding 17). The conch still shows as the symbol of authority.
