What Does The Conch Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Friedrich schiller once said ¨Mankind is made great or little by his own will.¨ In 1954 The Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding. During a time of war, a plane transporting a group of schoolboys is shot down over the sea. Many of the boys survive the crash and find themselves on a paradise like island, where the eventual decline of innocence causes a conflict amongst them. All the events in the Lord of the Flies can be directly correlated to periods in history. In the Lord of the Flies the conch symbolizes power and authority. In the novel the conch symbolizes a sign of authority when Ralph says, ¨I'll give the conch to the next person to speak.¨ He can hold it when he's speaking¨. This shows authority because the conch is symbolizing the power that resides within a judge’s gavel. The person who has the conch has the power to speak this is relatable to how the United States has nuclear weapons, they are in the position to speak. Another example of how the conch symbolizes is when Jack says, “We don’t need the conch anymore...we know who ought to say things”. Jack says this because he is turning his back to the authority and order the conch stands

Roger shows traits of this when his inner self says, “ Come on: I’ll creep up and stab-”. Roger is showing traits comparable to Josef Kramer who was nicknamed “The Beast of Belsen” he was responsible for terrorizing and the deaths of thousands of prisoners. Roger relates to Josef Kramer because while on trial Josef stated with lack of feeling he said,“just following orders” throughout the book Roger shows no sign of emotion. Another example of how Roger is sadistic is when the characters Sam and Eric say to Ralph, “ You don’t know Roger…He’s a terror”. This show that Roger is sadistic because he has implemented fear into the twins just how the SS planted fear into the Jews during WW2. That is how Roger expresses traits to members of the