Lord of the Flies

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding tells the story of a group of young, British boys who are on a deserted island, left to survive by themselves. When the plane full of these boys crashes on the island, it doesn't take long for their civil ways to deteriorate. Lord of the Flies contains many symbols to illustrate how the boys are acclimatizing to the island as well as how they are slowly becoming savage - like. Through the use of symbols such as the conch shell, the two different sides of the island, and Piggy, Golding demonstrates the decline of the civility on the island.  
A conch shell is an imperative symbol which author William Golding provides in   Lord of the Flies. This symbol demonstrates order, speech, and the laws of society to the boys on the island and is used to govern their meetings. The rule is that no boy may speak unless he is holding the conch and once the conch is in his hands, he cannot be interrupted. Ralph stated, “And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school” (Golding 25). This quote illustrates that the boys have decided to act like an ordered society when meetings are called. Because the conch shell is destroyed, Jack shows anarchy is taking over and he tries to become chief leader for the reason that the conch is not able to provide the order the boys once had. Through the course of the novel, society on the abandoned island shows the transition from carefully organized reasoning to unlawful decisions.


The two sides of the island denote the difference between the two civilizations that exist. Ralph's side, the lagoon, was calm and tranquil whereas Jack's side was tumultuous and rough, which symbolizes civilized vs. uncivilized. Jack announces to Ralph and his followers, "Me and my hunters, we're living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribe, come and see us" (Golding 125). This quote shows the...