In the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding uses many symbols that foreshadow the boys, mirror them, and give a deeper meaning to the story. The conch is one of many in the story that has its own meaning and importance in the story as it is a symbol of order and hierarchy amongst the group and boys. Later, this conch would fall to destruction just as the boys would fall into savagery and lose their sense of order and civility.
The first instance of the conch is when Ralph and Piggy find themselves on the beach after crashing there. A little bit after they use it to summon the other kids on the island like a momma bird to its chicks. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting they’ll come when they hear us”. The conch is the first form of order, rules, and hierarchy we see used in this novel. “And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school”… “Then I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”. This shows how the boys attempt to show civility and create a set of rules or social hierarchy so that they try to not fall into savagery.
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As the story goes on, the conch begins to lose its power and sense of democracy. Later in the story, Jack would exclaim, “‘Conch! Conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us’”, symbolizing his rebellious nature, as he is one of the first to turn to savagery. Ralph also clutches the conch desperately as he talks about his role in Simon's death, which can be seen as him not feeling like he is worthy of holding it and or being worthy to lead the group.
Once the story reaches its climax, the conch no longer has any power over the once civil boys who have now turned to savagery. This is seen in the instance where Ralph would blow the conch in Jack’s camp while the other boys would completely ignore him and throw stones at him. However, the part in the story where we know for certain that there is no turning back for the boys is when Roger rolls a boulder onto Piggy, killing him, as it also would break the conch. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist”. This symbolizes the absolute end of any hope of sanity, civilization, or rules that any of the boys had left, as the one thing that showed those traits was now gone forever.
Golding’s use of the conch as a symbol in ‘Lord of the Flies’ is a spectacular way to give meaning to a simple thing like a shell as he gives it emotion and gives it a proper role in the story. Although in the end the role of the conch meant nothing as it was destroyed, it still gave us a proper foreshadowing of what would happen to the boy's nature and what had already occurred within the boys' minds.
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