Conch Shell Symbolism

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Lord of the Flies Symbols
Jenna Perchak

In the novel Lord of the Flies, two major symbols that occur are the conch shell and the Lord of the Flies. The conch shell represents civilization and organization, whereas the Lord of the Flies represents the power of evil. While on the beach, two of the main characters, Ralph and Piggy, came across the conch shell. The conch shell was used to gather the group of boys together after being separated by the plane crash on the island. The conch shell helped the boys to form their own civilization. Throughout the novel, whenever the boys had meetings, the conch shell was always present. It helped to keep the meetings organized by giving the boy who held the conch shell the right to speak. The boys would each take turns expressing their thoughts by using the conch shell. However, as the novel continued, the conch shell started to lose the power that it had. The boys began to disrespect the conch shell by disregarding it when it would call to summon the meetings. In an attempt to retrieve Piggy’s glasses from the savages, Roger begins to throw rocks at Piggy. He then rolls a boulder onto Piggy, in which he is crushed and thrown off of the cliff to his death. The conch shell was shattered as well by the boulder, symbolizing the destruction of the boys’ civilization. Another symbol that occurs in the novel Lord of the Flies, is the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies is the bloody, severed head of a pig that Jack spears onto a

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