The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is a story about a group of school boys who get trapped on an island and have to learn how to survive without adult supervision. The story begins during a war in which an airplane, carrying the group of boys, crashes onto an uninhabited island. The boys, left alone without any adults, have to survive amongst one another. They elect a chief, Ralph, and they begin to survive on their own with resources on the island. As an attempt to restore order, certain boys are given duties. Although Ralph gives orders, there are many boys who would rather play around and not cooperate. Along the course of the story, the boys slowly begin to lose their minds and become savage like. In the end, the boys govern themselves with disastrous results. Throughout the novel, William Golding uses three evident symbols to convey powerful messages. The three symbols are the conch, the beast, and the Lord of the Flies. .
The first symbol that becomes evident is the conch shell. The conch shell represents power and order. The conch's power is presented at the beginning of the novel. For instance, as the children are asked to vote for a chief, they immediately say "Him with the shell " and "Let him be chief with the trumpet thingy " This example from page 29 shows how everybody thinks that the power or leadership skills comes from the conch. The conch also symbolizes order. It is used to call upon meetings and it gives the beholder the right to speak. "And another thing. We can't have everybody talking at once " (Golding 44) " Whoever holds the conch gets to speak " (Golding 45).By establishing order with the conch, everyone can have a voiced opinion just like in a form of government such as democracy.
The second symbol that becomes evident is the beast. The beast symbolizes the savage instinct within all of the boys. Once the boys see "the beast ", the peace on the island slowly deteriorates.