Arnold Joseph Taynbee, a British historian, explains, "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." Therefore, in William Golding 's Lord of the Flies, the civilization on a tropical unknown island filled with young British boys start to break away from their reality, making it a civilization suicide. They are deserted by a plane crash, which murders all the adults leaving all the boys to manage themselves. Without reality, some of the boys lose their morals, and start to turn into savages. During the course of the novel, symbols are changing, as well, showing how the civilization on the island is decaying. The conch, the fire, and Piggy 's glasses significantly change through the novel. Therefore, it begins to decline with the shell.
On the island, the conch 's purpose starts to decline. When the boys first arrive on the mysterious island, Ralph and Piggy blow the conch to gather any other people. Once everyone is together, Ralph makes the decision to use it as a talking stick. Here the conch is shown as a symbol of order and rule. In one of the first meetings, Ralph states, "That 's what this shell 's called. I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he 's speaking" (31). Ralph uses the conch to organize the meeting, so it can run in an orderly manner. However,
…show more content…
Symbols, in Lord of the Flies, undergo change to show how the civilization amongst the young boys is decaying through the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, the conch represents order as it is used for a talking stick in civilized meeting, but once it breaks home of the boys go mad. The signal fire is intentionally for being rescued, however, Jack changes its purpose to kill ralph in the thickets, before they are rescued. When Piggy 's specs are clear, the group of boys are civil, though, as they get scratched up, and eventually go missing, the civil in the boys turn into savages. For a civilization to decline, the community within it has