The Conch In Lord Of The Flies

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One significant prop used in Harry Hook's film "Lord of the Flies" was the conch: a large shell the boys discovered on the island in which they became stranded upon. The conch was used to summon the boys together and civilized them for the boy who held the conch had the right to speak. When the boys held the conch between their two bare hands it acted as though a microphone and allowed them to voice their opinion because of this rule they implied upon themselves.

From this , we could say that the conch served as a political tool. It allowed the two main opposing characters ( Ralph and Jack) who in the film serve as politicians who gain power by speaking their opinion. Jack gained votes and people's favour by providing food and fire, much …show more content…
The conch held symbolic importance because it emphasized this change amongst the characters, showing how this change affects the rules they imposed upon themselves. In the scene where Ralph and Piggy confront Jack's tribe, Piggy held the conch between his hands and attempted to bring peace amongst the boys by reminding them of pre existing rules that once civilised them and informing them of how they need to be sensible in order to get rescued. He told the boys " If we are stuck here until we get until we get old then we can't go on acting like kids. We've gotta be sensible in order to make things work". This dialogue reminded the audience of the decline of civilisation and when they laugh this reinforces this idea, showing the weakening power of the conch. For Piggy was the character who originally found the conch, he became associated with the prop and believed in it's power, despite Jack's tribe proposing to rule without it. Jack claimed " Why don't you two just f**** off? This is my end my tribe. Keep to your own end" . This told the audience that the conch is no longer welcomed by Jack's tribe and he now disregards the rules and the conch itself. The collapse of the conch is important because it questions Ralph's authority and leaves the audience wondering how the weakening power of the conch will affect Ralph and Piggy. Like many rules set in place in
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