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Who Is The Conch In Lord Of The Flies

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According to David Gemmell, “There is evil in us, and it is the mark of a man how he defies the evil within.” In William Golding’s 1954 novel, The Lord Of The Flies, a group of boys experience an unimaginable disaster and are stranded on an island when their plane is shot down. Initially the crisis is somewhat manageable; however, social order soon gives way to the “evil within”, which is later represented by “The Pig Head.” As the story unfolds the boys begin to abandon the logic which originally motivated the creation of their social structure, and it begins to “fall apart.” One way the author, Golding shows the defects of human nature is by describing “The Conch.” Meant to represent the idea of social order, troubled resulted once the majority …show more content…

In the beginning of the story if the conch was blown every bigun and littlun would come running.“... I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking… He won't be interrupted. Except by me… We’ll have rules!” (Golding 33) They set these rules to keep them protected and together. Like road rules, if you don't follow them than you or someone else could get hurt and it would cause chaos if no one followed the rules.The rules are supposed to keep people in check and away from harm. Throughout the story “The Conch” has become less important to “The Savages.” “The forest re-echoed: and birds lifted, crying out of the treetops, as on that first morning ages ago.” (170) In the beginning of the story Ralph found the “The Conch” on the beach. He had blown it and all of the other kids on the island heard it, andcame to the beach to find out what the noise. Know when Ralph blows “The Conch” echoes throughout the forest, everyone can hear it but they won't come because they don't care for the rules anymore. Like at school the school bell is supposed to gather people together for a certain purpose, if no one showed and they went off on their own they would be hurting themselves. We may not like the rules, but they are their for a reason, to protect

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At the instant the conch shatters all authority is lost. The conch not only symbolized rules and authority but it separates the boys by if they want to follow the rules either under Ralph's authority or

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Lincoln Nguyen Pre - AP English 9 Brua Hour 6 April 18th, 2024 Lord of the Flies Essay Everywhere in the world there’s a government or a sort of system that keeps society going that holds different rules and consequences for example, in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys get deserted on the island after their plane crashed, Ralph the main character is elected as the leader, but as a leader, Ralph must find ways to keep balance upon the island members, but how? Golding uses the conch to represent authority held within the shell, which shows that without proper respect towards someone or something, it will result in a dwindling level of order. There are many reasons why the conch holds authority. One example

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This is shown in the way that it is used as well as in the timeline of the book. The conch shell is used to call meetings to order and at the beginning, it keeps order at those meetings. Another way that order can be associated with the conch shell is by looking at the timeline of the book; in the beginning, when the conch shell is still prominent and respected the group of boys is very orderly. Jack stated, “’We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.

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The conch starts off as a symbol for civilization, however as the book progresses it is also a symbol for the loss of civilized manners and maintaining order, and this is shown through the ability to start meetings, granting the ability to talk, and the destruction of the conch. The conch had the ability

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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.

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We have fairness, with the conch, each person can express their feelings and talk without interruptions. ” ‘Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?” ‘I’m chief’ said Ralph tremulously. And what about the fire? And I’ve got the conch’-”(Lord Of The Flies Ch.9 Pg. 150)

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It helps them understand and cooperate with each other better. Whenever they are concerned they set a meeting to make sure they get better effects in their society. As the novel progresses the conch becomes ignored by the boys and unimportant, “…the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). The moment the conch broke it meant the boys did not want to be organized. Also, being organized meant they could not break rules, the boys wanted to do whatever

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When the three boys who explored the island returned to the beach, Ralph blew on the conch shell to gather the boys for a meeting. Ralph and Jack told everyone that there were no other people on the island and that they needed provisions. Ralph decided that whoever was holding the conch at meetings was who was allowed to speak, while the others listen without saying anything until they have the shell. Piggy speaks rather loudly about how no one knows the plane crashed on the island and how long the boys will be stuck on the island. This worries many of the boys.

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The conch is what calls the boys to the meeting where they elect Ralph to be the chief. The first thing Ralph and Piggy do after finding the conch is hold a meeting to start an island government. Furthermore as soon as the conch starts being ignored things start to fall apart. And finally the conch is destroyed right before Piggy meets his unfortunate death; Piggy is important here because Piggy is the character that supported government on the island most. Immediately after Piggy and the conch are destroyed Jack's tribe almost kills Ralph the last remaining relic of the island's government “‘There isn’t a tribe fore you any more!

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This is an example of the rules the conch symbolizes because, when Ralph holds the conch up they all know they need to be quiet and do as he says. Another example that shows the conchs rules is when the author writes ¨He held the conch before his face and glanced around the mouth. ´ Then i 'll give him the conch. ´ ´

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A conch he called it” (11). From then on, if someone wanted to speak, they had to have the shell. But, when rules are broken,

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In the novel, Lord Of The Flies, the author William Golding used symbols such as the conch and the Lord of The Flies to show the worlds chaotic society and human nature’s primitive ways. The Lord of the Flies is a character that can be represented in many ways however, it best shows that the boys on the island are all losing their minds and more. Throughout the book, a severed pig head on a stake is known as the “Lord of the Flies”. The author writes, “ ‘we are going to have fun on this island’ “

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Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is about a group of schoolboys who are stranded on the island, the boys come in contact with many objects that become symbolic throughout the novel. Through the use of the symbols Golding demonstrates that humans allow natural capacity for their evil to dominate their innocence. One of the major symbolic objects in the novel is the conch shell, the conch symbolizes civilization and order and it is used when one wants to talk or when Ralph calls for a meeting. We soon realize throughout the book that the conch loses its meaning of order. Another major symbol is the “Lord of the Flies”, it symbolizes “Beelzebub” meaning the force of evil.

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As the novel begins the boys are all afraid, alone and unaware of each others presence. After Ralph and Piggy find the conch shell and call the others from the crash with it, it is used to hold an election for a chief. "The being that had blown that had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart" (Golding 22). After Ralph blows the conch the boys demand him with the “trumpet-thing” to be chief. The conch is used to create rules and an order for the boys to follow.

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Whoever person who gets the conch means that he is the speaker and everyone else beside him will have to be absolute quiet, until the speaker is done and passed it to the other person then he can speak. Piggy’s glasses which is a symbol of fire help them a lot, the boys get to have fire to cook and also used for signal. It also represent the knowledge Piggy has. Last but not least, the signal fire symbols safety, with the signal fire, the ships that come near the island will see the smoke and they will search to see if their are survivors. On the other hand, ironically, at the end of the novel, the fire had succeeded in summoning the ship , but not the signal of the fire.

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