What Does The Conch Represent In Lord Of The Flies

In William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, the reader comprehends symbols that go throughout the book. These symbols are key factors which determine the importance of the novel. The symbols are a very important part of the literary content. In order to really follow along and understand the story, the reader must understand these symbols for what they mean as well as how they are used. Some of the symbols include the conch, the island itself, and fire. Two of the main characters, Jack and Simon, represent other figures. One of the symbols Golding included in the novel was the conch. The conch represented order and power; it was found by Piggy and Ralph when they first met in the beginning of the story. Each time the conch was blown, a meeting was called. Then soon after, the conch was decided to act as a talking stick. This symbol is included as one of the

The island represents civilization. The boys have created their own society and grounding point using this island. Their civilization is based off of what exactly the island has to offer; which is not much at all. The boys struggle keeping up their civilization when main characters, Ralph and Jack, Start disagreeing later on in the novel. It soon comes down and they lose their means of civilization. Jack takes his place and Ralph takes his. The boys are each trying to win over the other boys to join their different societies.

Fire is the most important part of the novel; it represents hope. The boys start the fire in hopes to make enough smoke for someone passing by to notice they were there stuck on the island. Towards the beginning of the story, a plane passes over the island and the boys get excited about being rescued. Due to the fire not being attended to, it went out and the plane did not notice the boys were standing on the island. The boys must keep the fire going in order to be rescued. The fire only burns as bright and big as their hope