How Does Golding Use The Conch In Lord Of The Flies

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. Ralph picks up the conch and “He faced the place of assembly and put the conch to his lips. The others were waiting for this and came straight away”(Golding 78) and when they arrive, Ralph starts to note the things that they boys have not been doing correctly.

Therefore, with the conch, Ralph was able to voice his problems with the boys, which means that the conch, at the moment, still has some power since Ralph’s opinions were heard by the boys. In addition to the conch, during chapter six, the conch loses power to order the boys. As seen in chapter 6, when they find that there is no beast, all of the boys have different things they want to do after, but Ralph commands the boys to follow him because he is the leader who has the conch. Jack gets annoyed at this and says, “‘We don’t need the conch anymore…It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us’”(Golding 101-102), Jack states, and the rest of the boys would agree because clearly, they aren’t as enthusiastic about following Ralph’s actions anymore. Thus, all of the boys are getting annoyed at Ralph’s command and the conch starts losing power and control over the boys. When Jack says that they don’t need the conch anymore, it is like he is taking away the only tool to regulate and keep order on the island. Ultimately, the conch is slowly becoming more and more insignificant to keep the boys in