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Lord of the flies - The conch

            Ralph is one of the most important characters and the main protagonist of the story. He was chosen to be chief by the others boys because of his innate leadership skills and strong sense of morality and responsibility that make him outstand as a natural leader. "Ralph! Ralph! Let him be chief" (Pg 22). Ralph is sensible and makes practical decisions that will benefit all. When Ralph decided not to go on climbing the mountain because of the wind, he wasn't being a coward. He did it because it wouldn't be very practical to continue climbing in windy conditions at night, as somebody could get hurt on the rocks (Pg 120). He is very optimistic and is sure that sooner or later all of them will be rescued from the island. "It's a good island. Until the grownups come fetch us we"ll have fun"(Pg 35). He is concerned about the future of all the boys and he insists on lighting a signal fire on the mountain and maintaining it at all times. "We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island, they may not notice us. We must smoke on top of the mountain. We must make fire" (Pg 38). When one the littluns came up and complained about a beast, like all the other boys, Ralph too felt nervous. But he suppresses his fear as it may it frighten the littluns even more. "He must have had a nightmare. Stumbling about among those creepers. There isn't a beastie" (Pg 36). Ralph has a caring and compassionate nature. When one of littluns approaches the assembly to say something and is laughed at, Ralph tries to persuade him to regain his self-confidence and speak his mind (Pg 35). He tries to maintain a civilized society on the island by maintaining law and order. He does this by constantly making reasonable rules for the boys to follow. "And another thing. We can't have everybody talking at once. We"ll have to have "Hands up" like at school. Then I"ll give him the conch. He can hold it when he's speaking" (Pg 33).


Essays Related to Lord of the flies - The conch

1. Full Summary - Lord of the Flies

... be elected the group's leader. Throughout "Lord of the Flies," Golding makes heavy use of symbols to present the themes and dramatic conflicts of the novel. In this chapter, for instance, Golding introduces the bespectacled Piggy as a representative of the scientific and intellectual aspects of civilization. Piggy thinks critically about the conch shell and determines a productive use for it-summoning the other boys to the beach. The conch shell itself is one of the most important symbols in the novel. The conch shell represents ... law, order, and political legitimacy, as it summons ...

  • Word Count: 11237
  • Approx Pages: 45
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Use of Symbols in Lord of the Flies

... not cooperate. Along the course of the story, the boys slowly begin to lose their minds and become savage like. In the end, the boys govern themselves with disastrous results. Throughout the novel, William Golding uses three evident symbols to convey powerful messages. The three symbols are the conch, the beast, and the Lord of the Flies. The first symbol that becomes evident is the conch shell. The conch shell represents power and order. The conch's power is presented at the beginning of the novel. For ... instance, as the children are asked to vote for a chief ... ...

  • Word Count: 834
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Symbolism in The Lord of the Flies

... ), yet Simon is only made fun of for his observation. A symbol closely related to the Beast is the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies, which is actually a sow's head, is another symbol of the evil within every human. As previously discussed, Simon recognized the Lord of the Flies. When he spoke to Simon, the Lord of the Flies said, ""Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill . . . I"m part of you"" (143). Every human has a Lord of the Flies in himself, he may be able ... paint: "They understood only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing pain...

  • Word Count: 1016
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Golding vs. Brook: Not Seeing the Bigger Picture

... "(187). In Brook's movie, the conch stays the same throughout the whole movie. The shell always looks new and at the end of the movie the viewer never sees it break. Brook could have tried to change the conch by chipping it or breaking it little by little so we could get the idea that as the conch breaks, order breaks. The most symbolic of all things in the book is the Lord of the Flies himself. The Lord of the Flies is also connected to Simon ... because it is Simon who discovers the Lord of the Flies for what he really ... ...

  • Word Count: 1146
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Lord of the Flies

... is saved. "The Lord Of The Flies" by William Golding takes place on an island during a nuclear war. The island in Lord of the Flies is never actually pointed out in the real world. The tropical location has a beach, where Ralph and Piggy emerge to find the conch. Further inland is the dense jungle, towards the centre of which is Simon's mat of creepers. This is also where pigs are hunted and the Lord of the Flies is eventually found. Lord Of The Flies contains many characters ... , all of which are young boys. The most important characters in ... ...

  • Word Count: 1959
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Lord Of The Flies Symbols

... presenting his dramatic conflict involves the use of symbols. Lord of the Flies is a highly symbolic novel, and many of its symbols are readily interpreted. The symbols representing the main themes and how they evolve through out the novel are: the conch shell, Piggy's glasses, the fire/signal fire, and the lord of the flies/beast. " The whole book is symbolic in nature."" (p.204) William Golding tries to prove his point by making each of the symbols represent something that is ... a far cry from the simple children swimming in the lagoon in Chapter 3. At first Golding shows that the co...

  • Word Count: 1246
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Allegory and Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

... of government systems as well. Through the situations the author creates such as the rise, fall and elimination of the conch, representing democracy and order, he depicts just how fragile the government is. The boys' savage behaviour is a result of lost order that was enforced through the conch. Through allegory involving democracy and dictatorship, the reader can see the potential of real government systems or additionally how fatal they can be. The allegory for intelligence in Lord of the Flies ... makes a point of showing that ... ...

  • Word Count: 3388
  • Approx Pages: 14
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Lord Of The Flies

... . Also on the island is the scar where the plane crashed and this symbolizes man's destruction and destructive forces in the real world. After writing this essay I can conclude that William Golding uses symbolism to reveal the main themes of his novel. The conch, Piggy's glasses, the island, the beast, the Lord of the Flies and the main characters are symbols for aspects of the real world and human behaviour and to illustrate the dangers of anarchy. Lord of the Flies tries to show ... what the real world would be like if laws and ... ...

  • Word Count: 1012
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Lord of the Flies Essay

... . There is also another major symbol in the book, and that is "The Lord of the Flies", (The Lord of the Flies literally means Beelzebub in Hebrew) it symbolizes the devil, and all that is evil in society and the world. The first symbol is the conch, which is a symbol of order and authority. Some of the boys are speaking at the first assembly, ""Him with the shell."/"Ralph! Ralph!"/"Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing."" (Pg. 19). This is ... showing how immediately the children are associating the conch with authority. They ... ...

  • Word Count: 1026
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Lord of the Flies essay

... the conch and use it to summon all the other boys in the Island. This conch later in the story becomes important for it become the signal of authority among the boys. In the beach the other boys introduced. Two diverges in the scene that the book contains is when Simon sees the Lord of the Flies and when Simon discovers that there is no such thing as the monster. In the book, Simon engages in a dialogue with the Lord of the Flies. The lord of the flies is head of the ... pig that Jack and his tribe offer to the monster in the Island. The ... ...

  • Word Count: 2265
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

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