Symbols in Lord of the Flies

The Conch Shell

Piggy informs Ralph that a conch shell can be blown like a trumpet. Following this advice, Ralph uses it to attract the attention of the other boys and gather them for meetings. One of the first rules that Ralph establishes is that only the person holding the conch can speak in meetings. Ralph likens this to the “Hands up” system at school, as a way of preventing meetings from becoming chaotic. Through this, the conch becomes a symbol of order and civilisation.

The conch comes to assume an almost magical quality, and Ralph is voted as leader partially because he is the one who first blows it. Even Jack respects the power of the conch, as seen when Ralph and Piggy come to confront him in his new settlement in the forest. He mocks them for forgetting the conch, which makes them unable to get the boys’ attention.

At the end of the story, when disorder and savagery have completely taken over, Piggy still insists that Ralph use the conch to call a meeting on the beach. He also believes it can be used to bring together Jack’s tribe in Castle Rock. Symbolically, the conch explodes when the boulder lands on Piggy, signifying the end of any remaining order on the island.

The Beast

The concept of the Beast starts from the imagination of one of the littluns, and the older children are amused and dismissive of the whole idea. However, as fear and paranoia grow among the boys, nearly all of them come to believe in its existence, making it a constant source of terror. Jack tries to appease the beast by leaving it offerings, such as the pig’s head that becomes the Lord of the Flies.

Simon is the only character to understand that the beast is not a physical being, but instead the evil that is contained inside all of the boys. The more savage the boys become, the stronger the image of the beast becomes in their minds.

The Lord of the Flies

The “Lord of the Flies” is symbolically significant and represents more than its literal depiction in the book. “Lord of the flies” is the English translation of the Greek word “Beelzebub”, who was a devil in the New Testament of the Bible. Therefore, it could be said to represent the evil on the island.

During its conversation with Simon, it symbolically becomes an embodiment of the beast, stating that it can’t be defeated as it is inside the boys:

“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill… I’m part of you.”

This reflects Golding’s message about the nature of evil, and how it is impossible to eradicate as it exists as part of humanity.

Ralph comes across the Lord of the Flies as he heads back to Castle Rock in preparation for the final showdown with Jack. It is described that the pig’s skull “grinned” at him and “gleamed as white as ever the conch had done and seemed to jeer at him cynically.”

After briefly questioning whether it is alive, Ralph punches the skull in a rage. This act is symbolic, representing his rejection of the evil that has come to hold such power on the island.

Piggy’s Glasses

In Piggy’s first appearance, we see him constantly cleaning his glasses. The constant cleaning illustrates how much he relies on them for clear vision. Ultimately, this is a vulnerability that is brutally exposed by Jack when he breaks the glasses and then steals them, preventing Piggy from seeing properly.

The glasses hold great power with the ability to create fire. It is fitting that this makeshift scientific instrument belongs to the rational Piggy. The shift in power, and change of leadership, is made official when Jack takes possession of the glasses by brute force.

Fire

Fire becomes a source of political tension between the two factions.

• Ralph and Piggy believe that the main priority for the fire should be to keep it burning as a signal to any passing ships. They maintain this hope with the desire that they may one day escape the island.

• On the other hand, Jack sees the fire primarily as a means to cook meat. This is evidenced by his negligence in letting the signal fire diminish so that he has more boys to hunt.

At the end of the novel, Jack decamps to Castle Rock, and Ralph asks him how anyone passing would see the fire from here. However, by this point, all of Jack’s attention is on his power on the island, without any thought of leaving it.

Ironically, it is when Jack uses the fire as a weapon, in trying to smoke Ralph out, that the “burning wreckage of the island” catches the attention of a passing ship.

War

A war takes place in the background of the story. Although it remains in the background, it is very important to the plot:

• It is as part of the war that the plane containing the boys is shot down.

• The parachutist, who dies as a result of aerial combat, becomes a misidentified figure for the beast. This indirectly leads to Simon’s death.

• It is a naval officer on a military ship who finds the boys at the end.

There is mention of the war involving atomic bombs, which was a legitimate threat to human civilisation in the 1950s. This fear of imminent death perhaps partly explains the increasingly fatalistic attitudes of the boys.