Lord Of The Flies-Retrogression

The Retrogression into a Savage-Like State
Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding illustrates a viewpoint many have labeled unlikely or impractical. He argues that all of mankind is capable of a behavior unlike society’s belief of normal human conduct. Society could truly be capable of retrogression into a savage-like state. Although the young boys in the novel are perceived as being the embodiment of innocence, their stay on the island depicts exactly how capable they are of such behavior. The novel paints a story that holds a deeper meaning than what the words on the page are attempting to reveal to the reader. Each character, object, and even the setting itself helps enhance the theory Golding conveys throughout the novel. In his allegorical

The conch shell is used and obtained as a method to maintain order on the island despite the other boy’s rejection and retrogression into a savage-like behavior. Discovered by Piggy on the beach when he first meets Ralph, the boys use the shell to call all of the boys on the island to the beach and with it establish rules that they expect the boys to follow until the time of their rescue. Ralph is the one who cherishes the conch the most and the idea of orderly control that is held behind it. He automatically takes upon the leadership role given to him by the other boys in the group. Along by his side he takes upon Piggy, his righthand man,who becomes the moral compass and rational thought for all the boys on the island. Almost all decisions Ralph makes is discussed with or is advised by Piggy. The boys at the beginning of the novel see Ralph as a strong, equiped leader with the shell and allow him to create the rules. Jack even goes to say, “‘We’ll have rules...lots of rules’” (25). Jack, despite becoming Ralph’s shadow (Freud), later on sees the importance the conch shell has for the group. In spite of a shell with the power of democracy, the idea becomes lost by the boy’s increasing desire to be of their own way and live their instinctual behaviors. Golding himself shared, "The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system"(Themes and Construction). Boys conditioned their whole lives in civilization could not hold to their values when separated from the place of their upbringing. Even if the conch shell was an act to control the boys, there was no way for Ralph to enforce his rules. “‘If I blow the conch and they don’t come back...we’ll be like animals’”