The Sound of the ShellThe opening chapter begins with two boys, Piggy and Ralph, making theirway through the jungle. We learn, through their dialogue, that they had beentravelling in an airplane with a group of British school children. The plane hadpresumably been shot down and crashed on a an island in the Pacific. It ishinted that the rest of the world is at war, and that most of it has beendestroyed by nuclear attackspossibly explaining that the children wereA storm has come and gone, washing the wreckage away. Ralph and Piggymeet and revel at the prospect that they are alone on a tropical island with noadults. They make their way to the beach where they find a large conch shell.
Using the shell as a horn, Ralph summons any other children that may be onthe island. They begin to come from the jungle and Piggy tries to take names.
Along the beach two marching files of black-clad children approach. This isthe first we see of Jack Merridew (who, oddly enough is the only child,besides Percival, whose last name we will learn). Piggy is immediatelysingled out by the group and made fun of. The children do not like him andBeing children, and at first thinking that survival is a game to be played andthat rescue is inevitable, they decide to vote for a chief “to decide things.” It isobvious the only two contenders are Jack and Ralph. Ralph is voted in; he hadpossession of the conchalready magical in quality to those presentandseemed the most able. Jack’s black-clad choir are designated as huntersupon Jack’s insistencealready revealing his need to hunt and kill. Ralph’s first decision as chief is to send a party out to investigate whether ornot they are really on an island. Himself, Jack, and Simon leave to scale themountain. As they climb the pink granite, they take time to have fun and roll alarge boulder off the edge to watch it be destroyed “like a bomb.” This need todestroy begins with this innocent rock-rolling and will eventually culminatewith the killing of a sow, Simon, Piggy and the hunting of Ralph later in theThey reach the summit and indeed discovery they are on an island,apparently uninhabited. A new friendship developes between Ralph and Jack.
They savor the “right of domination,” and Jack comments about how they willhave fun and hunt “until they fetch us.” Jack believes rescue is inevitable andthese thoughts will contribute to his behavior later in the novel. On the descent down the mountain they discover a piglet caught in theunderbrush. Jack unsheathes his knife and raises it, ready to let flybut hecannot. His current nature will not let him spill bloodbut this will change. Heis embarrassed and promises that next time he will kill. Fire on the MountainLater that evening, Ralph calls another meeting by blowing on the conch. Heconveys to the group of kids that they are on an island with no grown ups (Thenumber of kids is not fully knownand will never be knownbut we assume itis around thirty. Most of them are very small, possibly five or six years old andare called “littluns.” The rest are near Ralph’s age, possibly twelve years old.)Also, Jack insists on having an army of hunters and begins talking excitedlyAt this time Ralph lays down some rules. First, when someone wishes tospeak at an assembly he must hold the conch shell. No one is allowed tointerrupt the holder of the conch except Ralph. The conch begins tosymbolize the organization of society and the rules that such a society mustuphold to function. They speak excitedly about their new temporary home, how it is a “goodisland” and how much fun it will be. Then, a littlun with a large birthmark onhis face steps forward to speak. He is given the conch shell. The child tells ofa “beastie” that he saw in the dark, lurking on the island. It looked like asnake and is the first manifestation of the Beast. It is argued whether or notsuch a beast could live on a small island. Ralph doesn’t think so, butnonetheless he feels himself “facing something ungraspable.” Jack says hishunters will kill the beast if, indeed, it does exist. Ralph then introduces another prevailing symbol of the novel: the signal fire.
He will make it paramount that a signal fire be maintained to aid in theirrescue. At mention of creating such a fire at the top of the mountain, thechildren become excited and rush off, lead by Jack, to the summit to see ifthey can complete such a taskto really prove they can make it on theirown. Ralph follows, and Piggy comments that they are acting like “a crowd ofkids.” This is ironic, because they are a crowd of kids. It shows how Piggy isset apart from the group; that he is more mature and does not throw cautionto the wind as Jack does. A huge pile of gathered wood is made on the top of the mountain. Jack,against Piggy’s protest, grabs his specs to light the fire with and soon it isblazing. Piggy comments that the effort was wasted because the fireproduced little smoke. Jack begins arguing with him. Piggy tells Jack that hehas the conch, thus he should not be interrupted, but Jack says, ” The conchdoesn’t count on top of the mountain, so you shut up.’ ” Jack is beginning todislike the rules of the conch. The group of hunters are divided up to take shifts keeping the fire going. It isthen noticed that the sparks from the now-dead fire have ignited half the forestbelow the mountain. Piggy speaks out against the group’s immaturity. Hetells them that they ought to be more responsiblethey don’t even know howmany kids are on the island. Jack argues against him. Piggy points to theinferno and asks where the boy with the birthmark is. Nobody knowshe hasbeen killed by the fire, by the lack of responsibility, the rampant adventure andmaybe something else that is present in the boys. He is the first to die andthe boys can only stare at the fire, marveling with horror at what they haveThe chapter begins many days, possibly weeks, after the fire on themountain. Jack is hunting for pigs and has become good at tracking them, buthas not killed one as yet. He comes back to the beach where Ralph andSimon are trying to build a hut. Two rickety huts have already beenconstructed and this last one is not turning out so well. Ralph complains toJack how the kids don’t help; they are bathing or eating fruit in the forestinstead. This seems to be a trend with every project they try toaccomplisha project is proposed at a meeting and they work hard for a littlewhile, but never see it through to completion. Jack and Ralph have a small argument about whether building huts is moreimportant than hunting. This is the first of many disputes they will have. Thesubject of the beastie comes up again. Many of the littluns are frightened of it,which is why they are building huts. Jack comments that when he is alonehunting he feels he is, ” not hunting but being hunted… As thoughsomething is behind you all the time in the jungle.’ ” Jack has a sudden insight as to where the pigs hide during the day. Ralphcontinues to badger him about the fact that keeping up the signal fire is moreimportant than hunting, but Jack doesn’t seem to think that way. The twoboys are beginning to dislike each other. They go to the bathing pool, where,”…the shouting and splashing and laughing were only just sufficient to bringthem together again.” Simon wanders into the jungle, helps the littluns pick fruit, and then wandersoff further, finding a clearing. There is a thick mat of creepers that grow here.
He climbs under them where it is cool and dark and stays there until night fallPainted Faces and Long HairRoger and Maurice are walking through a group of littluns, kicking over thethings they’ve made in the sand. They split off, and Roger hides behind apalm tree watching a littlun playing by the water. He begins throwing rocks atthe littlun, but he aims to miss, because “the taboos of the old world” are stillJack comes up behind Roger and asks him to come watch as he puts on a”mask” of painted camouflage in order to hunt pigs better. As Jack smears theclay on his face, the mask is “…a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid,liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” The mask allows Jack to notworry about rescue and what he knows is right. Behind it he can do what heLater, Ralph and the rest of the boys are swimming in the bathing pool andsmoke is spotted on the horizon. Ralph looks to the mountain top, but thesignal fire has gone out. Running up to the summit, with the others following,Ralph reaches the top and the fire is deadthe watchers absent from duty. Jack and a crowd of hunters move up to the summit, carrying a dead pig. Thehunters are excited about their first kill and begin to explain it all to Ralph.
None of them care that the fire had gone out, it was not important to them; allthey can talk about is the hunt and the kill. When Ralph tells them a shippassed the island they fall silent. Jack tries to make excuses, and duringPiggy’s protests and lecturing Jack punches him and he falls to the ground.
His specs go flying and one lens breaksthe lenses that made the firepossible are now broken by Jack. Jack apologizes about the fire, but RalphThe fire is re-lit and the pig is roasted. Jack hands out portions of meat to allthe boys except Piggy. Simon gives his portion to Piggy and Jack can’t standit. The tension is broken and the story of the hunt is re-enacted by the boys.
Maurice pretends to be a pig, while the rest dance and chant around him. Thisis the first time the “dance” is preformed. Ralph tells them all that he is callingan assembly even though it is dark out. An assembly is called and the group of kids come. Ralph talks about howthey start projects and never finish them. No one is abiding by the rules verystrictly; they don’t gather water in coconuts anymore, nor do they use thedesignated places as bathrooms. And of course, there is the matter about thefire. He tells them that ” …we ought to die before we let fire out.’ ” He tells thehunters that the fire is more important than a pig. Furthermore, he explainsthat, ” Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well; wewere happy. And then…Then people started getting frightened.’ ” They are all frightened of the Beast, and the children have been talking aboutita large animal living on the island. The Beast, in reality, is something thatresides in all of the kidsa sort of dangerous evil that must be withheld.
Ralph, from the start, has tried to hold it back by laying down rules andorganizing society. Nonetheless, none of the kids yet realize this, and theBeast is manifested in their minds as an animal lurking on the island. Jack argues that he has been everywhere on the island and has never seen abeast. Piggy gets up and makes a very important speech in which he statesthat there isn’t a beast, at least, ” …not with claws, and all that…’ ” Also, “…there isn’t no fear either…Unless we get frightened of people.’ ” A littlun comes forward and talks of how he had been dreaming about fightingthe the creepers and saw something “horrid in the forest.” It turns out that thehorrid thing was Simon, who had been returning from the clearing he likes tobe at. Another littlun comes forward, Percival, and explains another type ofbeastthe Beast from the water. Again, this is debated. Then, Simon takesthe conch and says something very important. He says that, ” Maybe there isa beast… What I mean is… maybe it’s only us.’ ” Simon begins to understandwhat the Beast really is, but his is jeered at and will be jeered at for the rest ofthe novel, until his death. The debate continues and turns toward talk of the rules. Jack doesn’t knowwhy Ralph has the right to make rules. He points out that Ralph cannot hunt,nor can he sing. Ralph counters that he was chosen and that is reasonenough. More arguing ensues, and, “The world, that understandable and lawfulworld, was slipping away.” Jack turns against Piggy as well: ” Bullocks to therules! We’re strongwe hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll beatand beat and beat!’ ” Jack does not like rules and the Beast within him hisbeginning to expose itself little by little. The assembly breaks up and the hunters do their dance once again. The boysare drifting apart into two distinct groups: those who follow Ralph’s ideas andthose who follow Jack. At the close of the chapter, Ralph, Simon and Piggyare sitting on the assembly platform listening the cries of the littluns’Two fighter planes are engaged in a nighttime battle over the islandmoreevidence that the world is at war. One of them is shot down and the pilot bailsout and opens his parachute, but he is already dead. As the victor flies awaythe dead man floats to the island only to be caught on the rocks of themountain. There he will stay for some days, slowly rotting. Presently, though,the twins Samneric are on fire duty and have fallen asleep. They wake up,re-light the fire, and see the “Beast from air” breathing’ in and out. They run totell Ralph. As the sun is rising an assembly is called. The kids all believe that they are now in terrible danger. Jack calls forvolunteers to help him go to the top and kill it. A debate ensues and it isdetermined that the Beast does not leave tracks and moves by swingingthrough the tree tops, which is why Jack has never seen traces of it. It isdecided that a party of hunters, plus Ralph and Simon, will go to hunt theBeast. Piggy is left at the beach with the littluns. They will first check the onlyplace on the island that no one has been to: Castle Rock. If the Beast is notthere then they will check the mountain and re-light the fire. They trek to the castle and discover that nothing is there. Jack exclaims thatthe rock would make a great fort and he and his hunters proceed to push aboulder into the sea. Ralph breaks up the fun and they start the journey to theShadows and Tall TreesAs they make their way to the mountain they stop to eat and rest and Ralphthinks about how dirty and scraggly they all look. He yearns to have his haircut and take a bathrevealing again his character and longing to hold backThey start off and Jack finds traces of a pig. They decide to hunt it. A boar isfound and Ralph wounds him with his spear. He is delighted that he made theonly strike on the animal. The boar gets away and the hunters begin to danceagain, but this time it is a little different. Robert is playing the part of the pig,but the kids are a slightly out of hand and some of the fake blows to the “pig”are landing hard. Even Ralph, who previously shunned the dance and chantingfeels that, “…the desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering.” Here is thefirst time we see Ralph having trouble suppressing the Beast. They continue to the mountain and Simon is sent through the forest to tellPiggy and the others that the hunting party will not be back before dark. Nightfalls as they reach the base of the mountain and the boys argue aboutwhether or not they should wait until morning to scale it. Jack goes to the topand comes back down, reporting that he saw something billowing up on top.
They all climb to the summit and see the Beast. Instead of fighting it andfinding out that it is only a man, they run. As they flee, “…the creature liftedits head, holding toward them a ruin of a face.” Gift for the DarknessThe tale of the Beast is related to Piggy and the boys must decide what todo. Ralph tells Jack that they are not armed well enough to kill it. Someonecomments that, ” …now that thing sits by the fire as though it didn’t want usto be rescued.’ ” Which, in a sense, is what the “real beast” is doing. Jack calls an assembly by blowing the conch. He tells the group that theBeast is real; they have seen it. Also, Ralph has called the hunters cowardsand Jack accuses Ralph of being a coward himself. Jack asks the assemblyif any of them think Ralph should not be chief. No one raises their hand. Jack,in defiance, says, ” All right then… I’m not going to play any longer. Not withyou…I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot.'” Jack feels that survival is agame to be played and he is fed up with the rules that Ralph deals. He invitesothers to come join him and runs off into the forest. Simon steps forward to propose that they climb the mountain. No one wantsto. Instead, Piggy decides that the signal fire should be moved to the beach,and the kids start building a fire. The fire is lit, and as the crowd gathers, it isnoticeably smaller. Most of the bigguns have left to go “play” with Jack. Theonly bigguns left are Ralph, Piggy, Samneric and Simon. Simon wonders off to the mat of creepers, while Jack gathers a group of boysin the forest to teach them how to hunt. They decide that Jack will be chief,they will forget the Beast, and they will try to take more bigguns away fromThey begin to track a pig and and it leads them to Simon’s clearing. A fewpigs are laying around and the group decides to attack a sow and her piglets.
The piglets escape, but the sow is brutally killed. Jack decides to offer thepig’s head as a gift to the Beast. He orders his new henchman, Roger, tosharpen a stick at both ends. One end is jammed in the rocky earth and theother is draped with the head of the sow. Simon climbs from under thecreepers and is confronted with the head. Later, Jack and his gang raid Ralph’s encampment. They steal a burning logfor their own fire and Jack invites all the boys to come join his tribe at thefeast they are to have that night. As the “savages” leave Ralph commentsabout how he wishes he could have fun too, but still the fire is more importantto him. Nonetheless, this importance of the fire and of rescue are drifting awayfrom Ralph and he must be constantly reminded of it by Piggy. A storm isbuilding above the island and thunder promises rain. Back at the clearing Simon is having a “discussion” with the pig’s head. Thisdiscussion is probably mostly in Simon’s head, but Golding uses thisinterview as an eerie way to unveil the theme of the novel. Golding now refersto the fly-covered pig’s head as the “Lord of the Flies.” The Lord of the Fliesasks Simon if he’s afraid of him. It says: …I am the Beast… Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?’ Although Simon may have known that the Beast was really inside the kids, itis now confirmed. Now that Simon knows for sure, the Beast warns him not totell anyone the truth, otherwise he will be killed..
The storm keeps boiling over the island, possibly representing the turmoil thatis occurring below it. Simon regains consciousness and heads for themountain. He sees the rotting airman and realizes the Beast is “harmless andhorrible,” which, in reality is true. If the boys choose to suppress the Beast itis harmless, or they can let it run rampant. Simon makes his way to thebeach to tell the other boys. Piggy and Ralph have decided to go to the pig roast, just to see what is goingto happen. All of the other boys are already there, except Simon, and they fallsilent as the two outcasts approached. They are both given portions of meatas Jack begins a speech. He asks who will join his tribe. Ralphinterruptstrying to persuade the boys to help him keep the fire going. Thecrowd of boys instead agree to join Jack, who promises to give them meatand keep them safe from the Beast. The storm breaks and the rain comes down with lightning and thunder. Ralphis asking them what they’re going to do without shelters and Jack ordersthem to begin the dance. As they chant around Roger, who is playing the pig,Piggy and Ralph “…found themselves eager to take place in this dementedbut partly secure society.” The boys in the dance are armed with clubs andspits and are getting out of hand again with this game. A figure is crawling out of the forest and the ring opens to let it inside.
Mistaken as the Beast by the Jack’s tribe, Simon is beaten to death. Thegroup disbands for shelter from the storm. On top of the mountain wind fillsthe parachute of the airman and lifts him away from the island. As the stormsubsides and the tide moves in and out, Simon’s body is washed to sea. The Shell and the GlassesIt is the next morning and the only boys still in Ralph’s confidence are Piggyand Samneric. The twins are in the forest collecting firewood while Ralph andPiggy discuss Simon’s murder and what they are going to do next. Piggytries to make excuses for the boys by claiming it was an accident, but Ralphdoesn’t buy into that. On Castle Rock Jack (now continually painted) has created a fortification thatis constantly guarded. If, for whatever reason they need to defend themselves,Roger has placed a lever underneath a large boulder that will send it smashingonto the rock bridge that conects the fort to the mainland. Jack has begun torule by force and the kids who are out of line are tied up and beaten. Hedecides the tribe will hunt again tomorrow. Although some of them realizethey have killed Simon it is sensed that they are trying to it cover up byconvincing themselves they really just hurt the disguised beast. Back at the lagoon Ralph and the rest are agonizing over trying to keep thefire going. Again, Ralph must constantly be reminded by Piggy that the fire is”Something overwhelmingly good.” Ralph tells the protesting twins that “Anyone can play at hunting, anyone can get us meat’ “; anyone can buyinto the irresponsible and harmful desires within them, but it is not easy tohold them at bay. They decide to leave the fire unlit for the night, and retire tothe rickety shelters. During the night they awake to noises outside and they are afraid the Beasthas come for them, but is only Jack and his tribe searching to steal fire. Notfinding a lit fire they charge into the shelter and in the violent fight that ensues,Piggy’s specs are stolen. They have now been stripped of the ability to makefire and the only symbol of society and order that is left to them is the conch. At day break the four plundered and bruised boys try to ignite any smolderingashes left in the fire, but it is dead. In desperation Ralph calls an assembly.
Only the four boys plus some littluns attend. Ralph speculates that maybe ifthey try to comb their hair, and look decent they could go to Jack to ask forthe specs, ” after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t agame’ ” Piggy agrees to this idea and talks about Simon’s murder and thedeath of the littlun in the first fire: What can he do more than he already has? I’ll tell him what’s what. You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I’ll show him the one thing he hasn’t got.’ As they get ready they eat, Samneric are afraid to go because Jack will bepainted. They set off; with Ralph and the twins carrying spears and Piggy theconch, being led because he cannot see with out his specs. They reach Castle Rock and Ralph steps out onto the neck of land leading toit with Piggy just behind, and the twins after him. Roger, the guard, ordersthem to halt and Ralph blows the conch. He tells the savages that he iscalling an assembly. Jack emerges from the forest behind him with hishunters and the carcass of a pig. Ralph demands the specs to be returnedand the tribe laughs at him. Ralph and Jack fight each other briefly using spears as sabers. Jack getsbetween Ralph and the rock and orders the twins captured. Some kids comeout to tie up Samneric and Ralph has had enough; Jack and Ralph chargeeach other and begin fighting again. Piggy stands up and yells for them tostop and listen to him. Surprisingly, the crowd is silent and Piggy, holding theconch, asks, ” Which is betterto have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?’ ” Duringthis speech, the tribe, bearing spears, has formed along the far side of therock bridge intending to charge. A great yell goes up and Roger heaves on the lever. The huge boulder tottersand crashes onto the bridge. Ralph ducks out of the way, but the blind Piggydoes not move. As the boulder strikes him the conch explodes “…into athousand white fragments…” Piggy falls forty feet to his death on the rocksbelow. Jack feels no sympathy and warns Ralph that that’s what he’ll get. Thetribe charges and Ralph is running, crashing through the forest. The pursuitdoes not last long and Jack orders the crowd back to the fort. Ralph is free,for the time being. Night falls and Ralph stays close to Castle Rock. Samneric, now savages,have been stationed as guards. Ralph crosses the bridge and scales thetower to talk to them. They tell Ralph that Jack and the tribe are going to hunthim tomorrow. The plan is that the kids will make a line stretching from oneshore of the island to the other and they will slowly advance until they findhim. When Ralph asks what they will do when he is caught, the twins reply, “Roger has sharpened a stick at both ends,’ ” but Ralph does not attachmeaning to this. He tells Samneric that he plans to hide in the thicket nearCastle Rock, thinking that Jack will not look so close to the fort. Ralph wakes up the next morning and the twins have been forced to confesswhere Ralph is hiding. The tribe tries to roll another boulder from the castle toland in Ralph’s thicket, but they just barely miss him. A savage tries to crawlthrough the branches to see if Ralph is still there and gets the business endof a spear. They set the thicket on fire and Ralph runs into the forest as theline of savages spreads out to begin the sweep of the island. Deciding that the best option is to hide, Ralph finds the place where Simonused to stay and hunkers down. As the line of savages advances the entireisland behind them is burning, but they only seek to catch and kill Ralph. Theline reaches his hiding spot and Roger peeks under to look. Ralph chargeshim and runs to the beach, the tribe pursuing. He runs past the burningshelters right into a Navy officer. Ironically, the massive fire and smoke enabled the ship to see them. As theboys gather around, the officer comments on how it must be all be fun andgames. Some of the boys are crying, realizing what they’ve done. The officersees the spears and asks, ” We saw your smoke. What have been doing?Having a war or something?’ ” He learns that two children have been killed andthey are taken off the island to the waiting cruiser. As they are taken away,”…Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and thefall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” Discussion of ThemeLord of the Flies has more than one “theme,” or meaning, but the overall andmost important one is that the conditions of life within society are closelyrelated to the moral integrity of its individual members. In Golding’s own The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable. The whole book is symbolic in nature except the rescue in the end where adult life appears, dignified and capable, but in reality enmeshed in the same evil as the symbolic life of the children on the island. The officer, having interrupted a man-hunt, prepares to take the children off the island in a cruiser which will presently be hunting its enemy in the same implacable way. And who will rescue the adult and hisIn the novel, Golding seems to show the reader that this “ethical nature” is notinherent in mankind. Indeed, there is a certain capacity for evil that resides inman; his morality is simply superficial. Nonetheless, it is this moral integritythat must prevail in order for him to be ethical and thus for society to bemaintained. Without this suppression society caves in upon itself (as seen inthe book), lawlessness reins and life becomes a free-for-all. Although this is the main idea of the story, others exist underneath it. Themost prominent of these, probably, is the fact that often times people singleout another person, or another group of people to look down upon in order tofeel secure. Piggy’s character personifies this societal flaw, as he is alwaysshunned and made fun of. Discussion of SymbolismFirst, it must be understood that the boys’ lives on the island represent aworld-wide society. Although one cannot be sure of Golding’s motives forchoosing the island setting, it was probably because it works best to have thecharacters isolated, where the laws of their governments cannot reach them.
Also, why did Golding choose children instead of adolescents, or even adults?Most likely because children have not yet been fully conditioned by society tounderstand right from wrong, and thus in this ignorance, most of them areguided by their instinct and what is inherent within them. If older, moreknowledgeable characters were chosen, the events of the novel may not occurWith that being said, here is a list of the symbols used in the novel and theirsignificance to the theme, and each other: The Beast as a SymbolThe Beast is the evil that resides within man. The children were all aware thatsuch a beast exists, but none of them realized (except Simon) that it lieswithin them. Manifested in three forms throughout the story, the Beastconstantly plagues the littlunsthe least conditioned by society. Ralph represents law, order, organized society andmoral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantlymaking commonsense rules for the boys to follow.
As chief, he knows right from wrong. At the end ofthe novel he too realizes that man is not a kindcreature by nature. Anarchy finally hunts downsociety in the end, but Golding does not let us knowJack (and his tribe) represent anarchy. Jack did nothave the integrity to keep the Beast at bay. He isthe perpetrator of all three deaths that occur on theisland and wishes to spend his time hunting (killing)instead of helping Ralph with rescuePiggy symbolizes knowledge and morality. WithoutPiggy to help Ralph it is very possible that Ralphmay have lost sight of things and given in to theBeast. Jack, who, throughout the novelsystematically removes the forces opposing him, isscornfully afraid of Piggy and eventually kills him toeliminate his moral influence on the group, whichconflicts with his plan to rule with a triibalistic, survivalist moraliy. The Conch as a SymbolThe Conch is a symbol of the high hand of authority. Used to call meetings, itis magical to the boys, who for the most part respect it. In the end, when it isdestroyed, authority on the island is gone and Ralph is left to fend for himself. The Signal Fire as a SymbolThe Signal Fire is a representation of commonsense andrescue from immorality. When the signal fire can no longerbe lit, because Jack stole Piggy’s specs that light it, itsbeacon of hope and knowledge is no longer present to guideRalph who must then be constantly reminded by Piggyabout what is right. Piggy’s Specs as a SymbolPiggy’s Specs although not a clear symbol in thenovel, their being first broken, then stolen by Jack,shows a slow and inescapable descent into anarchyand evil. The Lord of the Flies as aThe Lord of the Flies represents the Beast’s danger andpower. According to E. L. Epstein, “…lord of the flies’ is atranslation of the Hebrew Ba’alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek).
It has been suggested that is was a mistranslation of amistransliterated word…for the Devil…” In the story thepanic and decay that takes place is symbolized by thispig’s head. In its talk’ with Simon it explains what theBeast really is. Bibliography:
