The Lord Of The Flies Conch Essay

The novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding has an interesting plot, a plane was shot out of the sky and crashed into a deserted Island leading to only a couple of boys surviving. The boys that survived the crash are Piggy, Ralph, Jack, Samneric, Simon, and Roger. Piggy and Ralph were straddling near the beach when they saw something in the sand which was a conch. The conch had no significant meaning at that moment. Piggy decided to tell Ralph to blow into the conch because he was unable to do so since he has asthma. When Ralph blew into the conch it made a loud noise and then Jack and the other boys came out from the darkness because of the noise. One thing that showed the influence that the conch had on the boys was when they were selecting

It not only allowed the boys to call a meeting but also had the authority of whoever was holding the conch was the only one allowed to speak, if you did not have the conch you were not allowed to speak. In the novel the way it showed that Ralph created a rule to mimic the civilized world that the boys were recently taken out of was stated as “‘And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.’ ‘Then I’ll give him the conch’ ‘I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.’”(33) This was the way of putting authority into their small society since they did not have any adult authority that they could look for guidance

Conch!” shouted Jack. “We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us.”(101) Jack became irritated and interrupted Piggy during the meeting where Sam and Eric were discussing their experience with the beast to express how annoyed he is with them for using and respecting the conch. Jack now rejects the meeting's rules and Ralph's authority as chief. When Jack argues that some voices and people are more important than others, he demonstrates the traits of a tyrannical leader. The conch is losing its significance as a representation of civilization and the democratic process in the face of these more savage