William Golding uses a multitude of symbols in his book, Lord of the Flies. One of the many symbols Golding uses is a conch, which is described as a creamy pink color, and approximately eighteen inches across. “In color the shell was deep cream, touched here and there with fading pink…lay eighteen inches of shell…” (16). The conch is a private symbol that Golding created to represent different interpretations to different characters. Ralph’s interpretation of the conch is power and authority; Whoever is holding the conch gets to speak, and it is Ralph who declared this rule. For Piggy, the conch represents order and reasonable thinking, because the conch is what holds civilization together and keeps the boys from becoming savage. As for Jack, his interpretation of the conch is that it holds rules, because it limits him from doing what he wants. In Lord of the Flies, the conch represents authority to Ralph, order to Piggy, and rules to Jack.
Ralph is introduced in chapter one as a privileged boy with blonde
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“…he was tall, thin, and bony…and ugly without silliness” (20). Golding creates a vivid image of Jack by telling how he is lanky, and not attractive. For Jack, the conch symbolizes rules, because it permits him to listen to others, and inhibits him from doing everything that he wishes. In chapter six, Jack finally begins to tell the others that the conch is unnecessary. “We don’t need the conch anymore” (102). After doing so, he also states that the conch doesn’t count on his side of the island, implying that he feels that the conch is completely meaningless. Shortly after the conch is destroyed in chapter eleven, Jack begins to scream loudly and hurls his spear at Ralph. Him doing this demonstrates that now that the conch is gone, Jack doesn’t have to follow the rules that it implied. Jack views the conch as a symbol of rules, because it keeps him from doing what he