People have grown accustomed to live in a civilized environment, where people follow rules and be humane. Although people have grown accustomed to this type of living it is easy to become uncivilized and savage when some aspects of civilized life are gone. In William Golding’s novel the Lord of the Flies the struggle between civilization and savagery can be seen through the symbols in the novel. In the novel the conch shell symbolizes civilization and order, which over time becomes increasingly fragile until it is destroyed. The conch reinforces the theme of this novel which is how the rules of civilization is engulfed by the human impulse toward savagery. In the beginning of the novel Ralph finds the conch who then uses it to call the kids that have been separated by the plane …show more content…
Ralph, Piggy, and the twins all go to the rock castle, where Jack and his group are living. Ralph wanted to show Jack and his group the conch and make them remember civilization and forget the savagery life they are living. Unfortunately for Ralph did not work, so he handed the conch to Piggy and got into a fight with Jack. While Ralph and Jack were fighting, Roger leaned all his weight on the lever which caused a giant rock to tumble down. The rocks path was headed straight to Piggy and the conch. The rock “struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist”(181). The conch exploding symbolized the end of civilization on the island and the start of chaos. Ralph is forced to leave and the twins were captured by Jack’s group and were forced to join him. Jack sets the jungle on fire the next morning in an effort to capture Ralph, fortunately for Ralph he runs into an officer who saves the kids. The destruction of the conch was a destruction of total civilization on the island and caused chaos to