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Lord of the Flies by William Golding Law and Order: The conch's power
The conch shell is a symbol for order and civilization in Lord of the Flies. It brings all the boys together after the crash. It also helps restore order when things get out of control. It keeps the boys in check when there are things to get done and when there are problems.
The conch shell also gives legitemacy of who rules the island. The elected ruler, Ralph, blows the conch to summon the boys to meetings where they discuss problems they are facing and openly express their opinions. However, when one meeting turns into chaos and Jack leads the hunters away, Piggy says, 'Ralph, blow the conch shell and summon the boys back to the group.' (pg. 82) Ralph is afraid that the call will be ignored and that any vestige of order will then disintegrate. This shows that there is a direct correlation between the lost power of the conch and the corruption on the island.
The destruction of the conch and the destruction of society among the boys on the island has finally taken place. When Ralph goes to confront Jack and his hunters at Castle Rock, he blows the conch and cries, 'I'm calling for a meeting.' (pg. 175) Jack's boys do not abide by this once powerful symbol of order. Instead they throw rocks at him. The conch is then destroyed by a boulder which symbolically shows the demise of civiliaztion along with the destruction of the conch.
What I think Golding is trying to comment about our society is that we can not govern ourselves without a proper leader in place. There were some disagreements about who was leader from the start which thus led to the rivalry between Ralph and Jack. Yes, Golding does successfully convey this message since the island ended in complete destruction. I think when the officer that saved them said, 'We'll take you off this island. How many of you are there?' (pg. 201) made the boys look at what they had become. They did not revolt against the officer since there was agreement among the boys that he was the rightful leader. If only there could have been agreement for a leader like this among the boys in the beginning, then maybe the boys would not have become so corrupt and mislead.
