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How Did Lord Of The Flies Change Piggy's Behavior

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Imagine a group of young British boys within the ages of six to twelve who have just crash-landed on a deserted tropical island with no adults or supervision to help guide them and keep things under control. William Golding connected the symbols to the natures of the boys, as the significance of the symbols changed so did the behavior of the boys. The symbols evolved in a way that destroyed the original meaning of them. The conch shell was the first discovered by Piggy and was used as a symbol of order and law, but throughout the novel the idea of order and law changed. Piggy’s specs were used as a source of fire by using science and intellect, but when the specs broke everything became blurry just like Piggy’s vision. The signal fire was …show more content…

Ralph had used the conch that Piggy found and called an assembly and discussed their roles on the island. The conch was used to allow the person holding the conch to speak, and all the boys agreed with that idea. This rule was introduced to the boys by Ralph, but Piggy was the one who suggested it to him since no one listened to him. The boys had decided that they needed a chief to help make decisions and there was something about Ralph that made him stand out, “there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” (Golding, 22). 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 …show more content…

“‘The rules!’ shouted Ralph. ‘You’re breaking the rules!’… ‘Ballocks to the rules!’” (Golding, 91). As Piggy died so did the conch and everything the both of them symbolized. “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). Jack was the first boy to challenge the power of the conch when he talked out of turn and Ralph scolded him for doing so. Roger pushed a huge rock from the top of Castle Rock onto Piggy and killed him along with the conch he was holding. Golding described the death of the conch as if it was never there to begin with to show that the conch was gone forever and there was nothing the boys could do about it. 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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The conch was the only object that could bring the boys together and was the boy’s one rule they had to follow. As the rivalry between Ralph and Jack became greater the conch and the idea of civilization became so insignificant that they vanish. This is the point in the book where the conch shatters and piggy dies. As a character Piggy represents the real world. He understands how things work and is always questioning the way things happen.

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In chapters five to six of the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the author uses the conch to symbolize order and power. In chapter five, Ralph uses the conch to have a meeting, using the conch to show that he is the leader and tries to keep the boys in check. In chapter six, the conch lost its power to keep all of the boys in order. Throughout these chapters, the significance of the conch changes. For instance, in chapter five, Ralph uses the conch to call the boys for a meeting.

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Right from the start, the conch was represented as a way to hold order, as Ralph used it to call assemblies and to determine who was speaking in an orderly way. “‘I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking,’” (Golding 33) said Ralph in an attempt to make rules and order. The conch was used through the entirety of the novel to call assemblies and prevent people from interrupting. Order was held whenever the conch was present.

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Later in the book they use the conch to show who is speaking and who is in charge. Overall Golding uses these special items to symbolize the main themes of civilization, order,

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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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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).

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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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The conch enforces this idea by showing that in order to speak the person must have the conch and when the conch breaks, the idea is further enforced. Golding writes, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (Golding 260). Golding puts these two events, Piggy dying and the conch breaking, together to show that this was what helped keep the society in order as Piggy provided the brains and the conch-symbolized law and order. The conch breaking at the same time as Piggy dying makes the reader see that the society is falling apart as rules are not being followed and the society is going out of

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Soon after the boys walk up the mountain in order to light up the first fire. However, Jack grabs Piggy’s specs while Piggy is trying to talk with the conch in hand. Ralph tries to dissuade the fight by saying the power of the conch remains no matter where they go and Jack replies “ I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey. After all, we’re not savages.

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“We have a disharmony in our natures. We cannot live together without injuring each other.” (Golding, 1954) William Golding backs up this statement completely in his novel Lord of the Flies. We quickly see a group of young boys stranded on a desert island, lose civilisation and descent into chaos resulting in horrific tragedies.

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