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How Does Golding Present The Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies

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Written in the symbolistic era of writing, William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, contains many symbols meant to express an overarching theme: the nature of human instincts. Being stranded on an island by a plane crash, a British group of boys have to survive on their own without any connections to the adult world. Described as having a weight problem, poor eyesight, and asthma, Piggy is not your prototypical leader; instead, he is more of an advisor with wisdom and knowledge to help the boys keep order. Similarly, the conch shell represents what civil order was left on the island once man’s essential illness took over. Although there are many symbols and relationships that are shown throughout the book, Piggy’s connected nature to the …show more content…

Once the book begins, Piggy quickly meets Ralph, the oldest boy on the island, and starts to collaborate with him. While in the lagoon, Piggy points out a stone shaped object that turns out to be the conch that would bring everyone together; however, Ralph does not know how to use it in an effective way. He needs Piggy’s help to show him how to blow the shell in a sonorous way to attract the attention of the group. This theme of Ralph listening to the ideas and advice of Piggy can relate to Ralph’s use of the conch shell to unify and gather the people. Later in the story, we can see how these two symbols can be intertwined in nature. One reason for this interconnectedness is the actions of Ralph. His ability to blow the conch and have the “platform crowded”(32) almost instantly showed the respect that the children had for civilization in the beginning of the story. In this quote the conch is a unifier and allows for the island to be run in a smoother fashion. Although at the start, Ralph puts Piggy down, later, he realizes the true benefit of having Piggy on the island. As mentioned before, Piggy wore glasses, making him extremely valuable to the entire group because of the need for a rescue fire. Ralph uses Piggy and the conch in seperate ways, but they are both used in benefit of the

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