Symbolism is often used by writers to enhance the plot and relate certain aspects to real life. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows a great deal of symbolism. The conch, the fire, and the masks are all examples of symbols that are clearly shown. Golding demonstrates symbolism through descriptions and situations when the symbols are used.
The conch is a well-represented symbol in the novel for civilization and authority. The conch is used to call on assemblies of all of the children on the island. Piggy is responsible for identifying the power of the conch, “He used to blow it and his mum would come.”(Golding p.15) Secondly the conch is used in meetings as the right to speak. Ralph comes up with this idea near the beginning, “then I’ll give him the conch.”(p.33) As civilization starts to deteriorate the conch is ignored more and more in group meetings. When the conch is finally destroyed civilization i
Symbolism is well described through the course of this novel in many different ways. The conch representing authority, the fire representing rescue, and the masks representing savagery, are all excellent examples of symbols. Thus this novel is a shows how symbolism can be used to enhance a story and compare actions, themes, and even emotions to objects used in the story.
The fire is also a symbol used to identify the rescue portion while on the island. The fire was first made for rescue not cooking. Ralph states this in a meeting, “We can help them find us…we must make a fire.”(Golding p.38) Golding uses the fire to represent rescue by the adult world. When the fire goes out for the first time a ship at sea passes the island without seeing the smoke and therefore doesn’t rescue the children. “You let the fire go out.”(p.70) Ralph shows anger toward Jack as he put food ahead of rescue. Near the end of the nov
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