Eileen Patino March 7,2006
Lord of the Flies Essay Test
In the novel, “Lord of the flies” it tells a story about how boys, between the ages 7-12 get
sanded on an island after their plane crashed. After the horrible disaster the boys must now come
and work together in order to survive. In order to have survive they had to think of was to send a
signal for help and have a leader to keep things organized, make sure everything is civilized, and
no one turn against each other. But in this story it shows both sides such as civilization and
savagery, which later on takes over in the story. In this story it also shows a lot of symbols. And
each symbol has their own special meaning. And here are few examples.
One of the symbol was the conch shell. The conch shell was used to call meetings and
who ever had the shell was the only one to be speaking so that everyone wouldn’t shout all at
once. The conch shell in the story represents law, unity, and organization. It was put to good
use and also kept everything organized. But later on in the story the conch loses meaning. The
conch was used for good, called for meetings, etc. Savagery atrts to take place and the boys like
to take the conch shell for granted the sooner or later the conch shell ends up breaking into little
pieces.
Another symbol in the story is the signal fire. The signal fire was one of things they
thought for a way to be rescued. The signal fire symbolizes to civilization. In the story the noys
had chosen a few to watch the fire over night so that it doesn’t go out. But one boy jack who is
on the savagery side shows that he rather hunt than do anything else by almost letting the fire go
out. Later on in the story, Jack uses the fire for cooking rather to be a signal and steals the fire
from Ralph and Piggy who are civilized. And Ralph wants it to be used in good use. Thats how
the signal fire loses meaning.