In chapter one, Ralph and Piggy find the conch. Piggy teaches Ralph how to blow it, and Ralph uses it to summon all the other boys.
In chapter two, rules are made. The main rule that is created is that to speak, you have to raise your hand to receive the conch. Once you are holding the conch, you may speak. Only Ralph, the chief, is then able to interrupt you.
In chapter four, Ralph makes plans to call a huge assembly with the conch.
In chapter five we are let into Ralph's head as he reflects before calling the assembly (with the conch.) "...so he took the conch down from the tree and examined the surface. Exposure to the air had bleached the yellow and pink to near-white, and transparency. Ralph felt a kind of affectionate reverence for the conch, even though he had fished the thing out of the lagoon himself." This reflection of his shows his connection with the conch; to him it represents some kind of order that they need on this island for survival. Throughout the assembly the words "I have the conch!" are said countless times.
Throughout the entire beginning of the book, the conch is more than a conch. It is their way of government. It is their way to maintain order. It is how they were brought together at the beginning and it is how each person on the island is given an opportunity to speak their mind. It is their entire way of life.
Keep smiling everyone!
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
The Conch
Only Those With the Conch May Speak
The Hunters
Jack Merridew
Simon & Ralph
The Boys
Ralph with Simon & Piggy behind him
The Choir
Soon to be the hunters...led by Jack
Piggy
With Specs
Simon
Samneric
The twins
Roger Allen
The Pig's Head
Scream
The Gang
Kate, Malick, & Heather --English Project
3 comments:
For some reason, I think the conch will become less important to the story. I haven't read ahead, and I don't know the ending, so I can't say for sure; I just have this feeling that as the boys start to fight more, and Jack continues to ignore the conch, the conch will become a thing of dissention and the past.
Cheers.
Yes, I would agree. I think this is symbolic of their old culture and democratic ways slipping away from them as they forget what life used to be like for them.
In my opinion, I think the conch is getting more and more useless. The boys talk without it at meetings and I just think that they won't need them as much.
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