Lord of the Flies Analytical Essay
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes symbolism to elucidate man’s inner battle between civilized behavior and savagery when order ceases to exist. Golding uses the conch to illustrate order, Piggy to depict intelligence, and the Beast to represent the primal instinct of savagery within all people.
In the novel Lord of the Flies, the conch signifies order and power. Ralph states that he will “give the conch to the next person to speak” (29). This bestows order to their various assemblies and when they use the conch, their behavior remains civilized. Toward the end of the novel, when the conch begins to lose its power of civilized behavior, Piggy states, “I tell you, I got the conch! . . . I got this to say. You’re acting like a crowd of kids. . . . Which is better - to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is? . . . Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?”(166). As Piggy expresses this argument, Roger rolls a great boulder at him, and kills Piggy and shatters the conch. Thus, all civilization vanishes and complete savagery replaces it. As if to clarify this, Jack organizes a hunt for Ralph. Samneric say, “They (Jack, Roger, etc.) hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you. They’re going to hunt you tomorrow” (174). Broken, the conch exemplifies Jack’s evil, power, and savagery, while as a whole, it represents civilized behavior, order, and Ralph’s power as chief, illustrating the decline of civilization to savagery. From the start of the novel, Piggy represents intelligence and rationality. When Piggy and Ralph find the conch, he says, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-” (14). Piggy’s knowledge of the conch’s power to call assembly brought the island together into a type of society. Ralph appoints Jack and his choir to keep up with the fire. When Jack neglects his job so that he can hunt, a ship goes by. When...