The Lack Of Society In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies Essay

In Lord of The Flies, the conch represents authority within the society the boys create. When the conch is present in the boys' society there is organization and obedience. Ralph is often seen with the conch, as he and Piggy discovered it. Ralph is also depicted as the leader earlier on in the novel. Using the conch and his authority, he implements rules to organize the boys: “And another thing. We can not have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school…I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking” (Golding 33). Ralph establishes that the boys have to “give the conch to the next person to speak." This enforces rules that the boys are used to “at school.” They take what they know and apply it to their society. The conch represents the adult authority that still looms around the boys. In Thaplyal and Kunwars’s article, Ecocritical Reading of William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, the paper explains the boys’ resort to civilization: “They portray the picture of the civilization they have come from, where external law seems to be the only way to maintain order and harmony” (Thapliyal, Kunwar 86). When the boys arrive on the island, they establish rules based on where “they have come from” because they know society is organized and civilized because of those rules. The boys’ are taught by adults that authority and laws are one of the only ways “to maintain order and harmony." The conch retains order when it is present in the boys' society.

Without the conch, the boys’ society goes out of control, and the consequences of disobedience result in many tragedies. The destruction of the conch marks the point where savagery takes over the island. The breakage of the conch happens alongside Piggy’s death: “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). As the boulder strikes Piggy “the conch exploded” as well. The savagery that kills Piggy also kills the rest of the authority until it “ceased to exist.” Piggy stuck to his morals and was one of the only boys to do so. The order he represents dies with him. Roger is the one that “In the end it is he who pushes the boulder that kills Piggy and scatters the conch” (Jubimol K. G. 88). Roger, one of the boys overcome by savagery “pushes the boulder” that kills Piggy and “scatters the conch.” Throughout the novel, the conch represents democracy and authority. It breaks when the boys ultimately break their connection with normal civilization and turn to savagery. The deaths and savagery that take over the island represent the consequences of the absence of authority.