Lord of the Flies Essay

In the book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding,

Two of the most important symbols from

this story are the conch shell and the beast

(A.k.a the beastie). The conch shell represents leadership and

government on the island. And the beast symbolizes the savagery

that exsists inside the boys. In the first paragraph the conch

shell will be analyzed and told what role it played and society.

The conch shell was basically the start of the society on the island. In the beginning of the story Ralph and Piggy find each

other and start to walk towards the beach and near the water

they find the conch shell in on the shoreline. This shell

represents leadership and also perfection and beauty. And

in the beginning the boys are well brought up and little

gentlemen. In my opinion the boys are civilized yet young and

carefree. After Ralph and Piggy find the shell Piggy tells Ralph

that if you blow in one end of it the conch will make a loud booming sound. Ralph is a strong boy for a twelve year old.

And Piggy on the other hand is heavy and has asthma, Piggys

Asthma gets in the way of him doing certain things such as

Hunting. The booming sound symbolizes Ralph being strong and

Witty. I believe Piggy has more brains and if people would

Actually listened to him the island would have more structure.

After Ralph blows in the shell slowly all the littleuns and older

boys start to descend from the forest and gather around Ralph

where they elect him as the leader. The choirboys come shortly

after everyone else. Where jack is elected the leader of the choir

boys who are soon named the hunters. Roger gathered a handful

of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round

Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not

throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life.

Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and

school and policemen and the law. After the conch shell is

broken that is when the savagery within the boys is more

noticeable. In the end the the conch shell stands for a lot but it

mostly is about having a governmental island.

The beast or the beastie as the littleuns would call it is

something that is really imaginary

in which the boys have made up. In the story the first ones to spot the beastie is one of the

younger