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Post by Mr. Malloy on Apr 13, 2020 4:03:38 GMT
Symbolism in Lord of the Flies
Keep in mind that a symbol is an object or other entity used to represent or suggest something else that is either implicitly or explicitly associated with it. Symbols take the form of visual images, words, and gestures used to convey an idea or belief. All human cultures use symbols to express underlying ideas and structures. For today’s discussion, take one of the following symbols in the book and describe its importance and meaning in the novel. *The island *The conch *The fire *Piggy’s glasses *The Lord of the FliesWith your symbol, consider the following questions: *What does it look like (both at the beginning of the novel AND at the end)? *What is its purpose in the context of the novel? *What ultimately happens to this symbol?
Also, at least one (1) quote from the novel is needed to help describe the significance of said symbol. HW: Read Ch. 11
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Post by Navin F. on Apr 13, 2020 21:21:00 GMT
The conch shell represents civilization and order on the island and is a source of democratic power. The conch is the object which was able to bring all of the boys together after the crash. The mighty blast of the conch is what held the power of assembly and the right to speak during assembly which shows how it influenced the boys to keep order and try to maintain civilization as well as a democracy where everyone could play their part. The influence of the conch was also part of the reason that Ralph was elected chief at the beginning of the book. “Him with the shell.” “Ralph! Ralph” (Golding 22)! This shows that the boys think that power, leadership, and responsibility source from the conch and not necessarily the person. With his power, Ralph was able to establish rules which kept the boys from descending into a state of nature. As the book progressed, the conch began to lose its power. Less and less people assembled at the sound of its call and the power to speak also began to diminish. Eventually, Jack split off into his own tribe in spite of the power of the conch which remained with Ralph. Afterward, there were only a few who respected the conch, notably Piggy. "'I got the conch. I'm going to the Jack Merridew an' tell him, I am'" (Golding 171). This shows that Piggy believes strongly in the power of the conch; so much so that he thinks he can use it to overthrow Jack's tribe of savages and gain their respect and loyalty. Ultimately, Piggy's efforts lead to his death along with the conch's. The shattering of the conch signifies the final demise of the civilized instinct and humanity amongst all the boys on the island.
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Post by Ava Morton on Apr 15, 2020 15:04:29 GMT
The fire represents the boys' hope to go home. As long as the fire was burning on the beach, Ralph still had control over the boys, and since they were keeping it burning, they clearly believed that someone would see it and rescue them. Then, further on in the book, when Jack's group splits from Ralph's group, they literally stole Ralph's fire, and with it his hope. It slowly dies throughout the book, but in this chapter, when it dies completely, the reader knows that Jack has absolute control over the rest of the group because he has control of the only source of fire and the object used to make the fire (Piggy's glasses).
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Post by Peyton J on Apr 15, 2020 15:10:01 GMT
Piggy is the most intelligent person on the island, and his glasses represent science and technology in society. At the beginning of the novel, his glasses are in good condition and simply help Piggy see. By the end of the novel they hold significant power, however they are broken and corrupt. At the end of chapter ten, Piggy is attacked for his glasses and Jack ended up "trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement" (Golding, 168) with Piggy's broken glasses in his left hand. With Piggy's glasses, came not only the ability for him to see, but the ability to start a fire, which is what Jack was so eager to steal. This ability to start fire was the most advanced technology on the island making it very valuable. Ultimately, the civilization on the island breaks Piggy's glasses as a result of fighting over them. This represents how, the more valuable and desired something is, the more corrupt it becomes as people compete to attain it.
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Post by Megan Jaco on Apr 15, 2020 15:14:51 GMT
The signal fire, wherever it is in the book, represents life and safety. There is a delicate balance to the flames, because at the beginning of the book when they let the fire run wild in their excitement, a littlun is caught in the heat and is killed. On the other hand however, when they begin to get lazy and let the fire out, they risked their chance of rescue and survival when a nearby ship does not notice any smoke signals coming from the apparently deserted island. To the furthest extreme, when the fire is let out after the night of the feast they're hunt crazy and scared. Simon was crawling out of the forest confused after waking up from his unconscious state and the wild boys took the first opportunity to pounce on the innocent victim because they were scared and dangerous in the dark. "'We don't want another night without fire.' He looked round guiltily at the three boys standing by. This was the first time he had admitted the double function of the fire. Certainly one was to send up a beckoning column of smoke; but the other was to be a hearth now and a comfort until they slept." (Golding 162). The fire is the little bit of sanity they have on the island now that Simon was gone and they had to take advantage of this or perish.
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Post by Molly St. George on Apr 15, 2020 15:23:57 GMT
The fire represents hope. Ralph often used the fire as a method of rallying and unifying the boys. Ralph's faith and commitment to the fire reveals that he is a leader driven by hope. He hopes for both rescue and a better future where he and his family can return to the peaceful house in the country. The fire's representation of hope is further supported by Ralph's thoughts that "There was something good about the fire. Something overwhelmingly good" (Golding 163).
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Post by Luke Brunner on Apr 15, 2020 15:26:42 GMT
The conch shell represents order and civilization, especially at the beginning of the novel when it was used to gather the boys to one stop after the crash left them stranded. The conch shell symbolized democracy and whoever held it could speak, which gives each speaker a sense of importance and that everyone could play a role in getting of the island. At the beginning of the book too, Ralph uses the shell himself in order to gather the boys and therefore is established as a leader figure in the book. "Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph!"Golding 22. The conch shell itself remains the same as the novel goes on, but it's ability to influence and act as a symbol drastically diminishes over the course of the book, until it is essentially useless due to the control and ignorance of Jacks tribe.
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Post by Phillip Truong on Apr 15, 2020 15:32:44 GMT
The island represents paradise, a utopia like the Garden of Eden in Christianity. At the beginning of the book, Golding writes, ¨...The beach between the palm terrace and the water was a think stick, endless apparently, for to Ralph´s left the perspective of palm and beach and water drew to a point of infinity...¨ (Golding 5) This description gives off the impression that the island is untouched and has been for generations. In the context of the novel, however, this quote gives off the impression that the island is paradise, as paradise is eternal and hasn´t been touched by human hands ever since humans had been kicked out of it. By the end of the book, however, the forest gets burnt down to the ground by Jack´s tribe. This is symbolic of how human nature will always ruin a utopia- how true utopias are impossible.
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Post by Audra Snyder on Apr 15, 2020 15:35:50 GMT
One main symbol of Lord of the Flies is fire. At the beginning of the book, fire was a very precious commodity, and was the highest priority of the boys next to food. For example, right after the original "order" of the island had been established with the conch shell and the first assembly, Ralph realizes that fire is valuable. Fire provides heat and a way of protection to keep the boys safe from scary things on the island. Ralph says "'There's another thing. We can help them find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make fire"(Golding 38). At the beginning of the book, fire is more important than shelter and even meat due to all of the benefits it provides. Ralph reiterates over and over "We must make fire" (Golding 38). On the island, fire is practical. Like Ralph said, fire produces smoke, which could produce a smoke signal to alert any boats or planes that happen to travel near the island. Fire was also used to unite the boys when they first met each other. The one thing the boys could agree on was the importance of fire to their survival. However, at the end of the book, fire has changed. Fire became dangerous and scary. Near the beginning, the boys lost control of the fire they had set up and the fire burned half of the island. That was a big scare to the boys as they realized that fire is natural and uncontrollable. Fire is originally naturally occurring and without proper containment, fire can kill and destroy. Another way fire changed was at the very end of the book was the attitude of the boys towards fire. When Jack broke away from Ralph's original tribe, and created his own tribe of savages, he immediately told his followers we need fire, and we need to get it however possible. As discovered earlier in the book, Piggy's glasses reflect light and are used to create fire. When Jack created his own tribe, he told them we need to take Piggy's glasses no matter the cost. "He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses"(Golding 168). Jack attacked Piggy in his sleep to get his glasses to make fire. Fire had now became the thing that the rival tribes are fighting over. The fire ultimately became a symbol of fighting and aggression as well as destruction and death instead of the original perception of fire as protection and comfort.
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Post by Vanessa Antolakis on Apr 15, 2020 15:57:16 GMT
The conch is described as a very valuable, large, cream colored shell with fading pink spots and a delicate embossed pattern on the outside. In the beginning of the novel, the conch symbolizes the order and civilization in the new society of the boys. The conch is also used for the purpose of leadership and deciding who gets power and authority in the democracy. When the conch is used, it makes a loud sound, signaling or communicating to the other boys that a meeting is going to happen and whoever holds the conch has the right to speak. The conch also contributed to why Ralph was elected chief and allowed him to call meetings to order and use his newly found authority to control the other boys. "Him with the shell! Ralph! Ralph!" (Golding 22). Through the progression of the book, the conch began to lose its meaning. The boys no longer used it to communicate or give orders and Jack ended up creating his own tribe and completely disregarding the conch. By the end of the novel, the conch becomes destroyed and Piggy, who deeply admired it, died. Ultimately, both the shattering of the conch and the death of Piggy represents the complete savagery or loss of humanity of the boys and the overthrow of civilization.
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Post by Zoe Newman on Apr 15, 2020 16:08:19 GMT
The conch represents the order in society. It represents the structure and the rules, and shows that if you follow the rules you should be all right. The conch is described at the beginning as a "the color was a deep cream, touched here and there with fading pink." (Golding, 16). Representing the new shinning rules of this little island utopia. In such a short book, to take this much time to describe an object like a conch means that the significance of it is much more symbolic than we are first presented with. However at the end of the book the conch is shattered and destroyed alongside the one person who abides by the rules set in place so full heatedly, Piggy. Ultimately, this is representation that the rules have been destroyed and the boys will no longer follow any societal ideas of morals and values anymore.
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Post by Leigh Schmidt on Apr 15, 2020 16:23:45 GMT
The conch represents Ralph’s leadership and power. It is first found by Piggy and Ralph at the very beginning of the book when they don’t know if there is anyone else on the island. When they see it, Piggy says, “‘S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable--” (Golding 11). Ralph uses the conch to call the attention of all of the other boys on that first day. After that, he uses it to call assemblies of which he was the leader. In the assemblies, whoever is speaking gets the conch to show that they should have the attention of the other boys. Ralph is the chief, so he guards the conch and grants permission to hold the attention. On page 63, Golding says of the littluns, “They obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority; and partly because they enjoyed the entertainment of the assemblies” (Golding 63). Even the littluns see the conch as something that Ralph uses to be a leader. As the book goes on and Jack challenges Ralph’s power, the conch remains something that Ralph claims in order to have some authority over Jack. When Ralph and Piggy go to Jack’s feast on the other side of the island, Ralph and Jack are arguing about who should be leader:
“‘I’m chief,’ said Ralph tremulously. ‘And what about the fire? And I’ve got the conch--’ ‘You haven’t got it with you,’ said Jack, sneering. ‘You left it behind. See, clever? And the conch doesn’t count at this end of the island--” (Golding 173).
In this argument, Jack starts making his own rules about the conch. By saying that the conch doesn’t count on that side of the island, he is saying that Ralph is no longer the chief or a leader at all on that side of the island. By this point in the story, the conch is no longer something that all of the boys respect. Now, Ralph is using it to hang on to his chiefhood by a thread.
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Post by Nicholas on Apr 15, 2020 16:26:08 GMT
The fire represents hope the boys have to get back home. If the fire is still burning, then Ralph had control over them. Since they kept the fire burning, that means they still had hope that there was a possibility someone could see it and rescue them. Jacks group splits from Ralphs and stole his fire giving up all the hope of them being rescued. Jack has absolute control because he has control over the only thing that can create the fire which was Piggy's glasses.
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Post by Emily Wingard on Apr 15, 2020 16:43:24 GMT
The importance of the Conch is that it symbolizes civil society. Which represents engagement with the boys. The boys use it to establish a society while they are stranded on an island. The first time the boys uses it they automatically wanted democracy "this toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch" The conch is also used when someone wants to speak they get the conch in their hand and it's their turn to speak. The conch also symbolizes free speech in a way. Letting the boys have a turn to speak what they want with the conch. The conch also limits what the boys want as a democracy. It kept in order of how the boys maintain civilization. The conch has power upon the boys. It decides who speaks and has the voice over one another. It helps the boys to try and be equal. To understand one another while they try and come up with ideas to help survive. The conch calls all the boys together. But doesn't seem to be taken seriously. In the end the conch symbolizes civil society and democracy.
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Post by Katarina Garcia on Apr 15, 2020 17:05:21 GMT
The island in Lord of the Flies represents a utopian paradise similar to the Garden of Eve. At the beginning of the book, this island is one of lush forest and beautiful waters, seemingly a paradise. When the boys crash, however, they leave a scar that rips through the utopia. This is just the first of the destruction of the purity and innocence of the island that humans cause. Leaving the scar was bad enough, but then they set fire to the island and begun to hunt its creatures. Similar to the tale of Adam and Eve, they further destroy their paradise at the egging of a snake. In the Bible, it is a snake that symbolizes Satan and convinces Eve to eat an apple and give up the utopia. This is similar to the book because the Beast is known to be a Snake. The Beast drives the children to do awful things like murder Simon and allows Jack to remain in power due to his utilization of this fear of the Snake. The island is an innocent and beautiful host of a virus driven by the worst parts of humanity.
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