"I'll give the conch to the next person to speak (Golding 33)," he says. "He can hold it when he's speaking. and he won't be interrupted. Except by me (Golding, 33)." .
The conch shell that Ralph is speaking of has much the same purpose as Ralph himself: it represents democratic government, order and civilization. Piggy and Ralph found the conch shell in the lagoon, thus bringing the idea of democracy to the island. The shell is used to call the boys to the assemblies and to determine who has the right to speak at the meetings. As the boys begin to lose their faith in civilization and begin to take on savage traits, the conch loses its power. In this way, the conch's deterioration over the course of the book mirrors that of the island's democratic society. Near the end of the book, Ralph begins to cling to the shell, and thus the idea of democracy, as a sort of security blanket. One example of Ralph using civilization and rules for comfort through the symbolism of the conch is when he is talking about Simon, and his own role in Simon's death. ".Ralph got up and went to the conch. He took the shell caressingly with both hands and knelt. "That was murder.".Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked himself to and fro (Golding 156-7)." Golding shows the complete disintegration of civilized government through the destruction of the conch brought about by the same rock as Piggy's death. .
The timing of the conch's destruction in relationship to Piggy"'"s death was not an accident. Piggy represented knowledge, and democracy cannot exist without knowledge and learning. For this reason, Piggy was often shown holding the conch or with Ralph. When Piggy was killed, the last remaining parts of the democratic structure on the island had to go with him, thus the destruction of the conch. .
Piggy's glasses represent logical thought, which deteriorates much like the democratic structure of the island. The clearest example of Piggy's glasses's and logical thought's worth is in the starting of the signal fires.