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A Glimpse at Humanity’s Road to Destruction In 1954, the British author, William Golding, wrote his first novel called Lord of the Flies. It tells the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a tropical island after their plane has an accident. Throughout the novel, there is a struggle for power between two boys, Ralph and Jack. Ralph is civilized and reasonable, whereas Jack is more barbaric and obsessed with killing. Symbolism is widely used in Lord of the Flies. For instance, the conch, the boys’ masks, and the beast represent evolution as well as the lack of it. These ideas tie in with the main theme, civilization versus savagery. The most obvious symbol in the novel is that of the conch. It represents authority, order, and civilization. Ralph and Piggy find the shell on the beach at the beginning of the novel and it is what brings all the boys together. Throughout the first half of the novel, the conch effectively governs the boys’ meetings, for the boy who holds the shell holds the right to speak, as Ralph informs the other boys, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak… And he won’t be interrupted” (31).
Approximate Word count = 723
Approximate Pages = 2.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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