Symbolic Throughout: An Analysis of Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

Christofer Smith • August 25, 2023 • 1196 Words

INTRODUCTION

Within the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are multiple symbols and representations of core ideas and notions that are translated into the plot’s characters and objects. While they may seem inconspicuous to some readers, these symbols become blatant when examined and comprehended. However, what may hinder the understanding of these concepts is the ever-changing usage of the symbols. To alleviate this confusion, thought must be emphasized and used throughout the course of the novel.

THE USAGE OF THE CONCH

As one of the most commonly identified symbols of Lord of the Flies, the conch shell was discovered among the ferny weeds (Golding 15) of the unnamed island where two schoolboys find themselves marooned (Golding 8). The two, introduced prior as Ralph (Golding 9) and Piggy (Golding 11), first utilize the conch as a method of calling for an assembly (Golding 17). As the plot of Lord of the Flies progresses, the conch becomes a tool for designating who may speak (Golding 33). As with other symbols in the novel, the conch’s purpose evolves. From its ability to grant the privilege to speak, it became the embodiment of authority on the island, with its use now ranging from speaking to commanding (Golding 45). While still maintaining its original utilization (Golding 75) and its permission to speak (Golding 83), the conch cements itself simply with nothing but appearance (Golding 99). As many of the boys become, and are described as, savages (Golding 141), the conch is seen as a sacred item that must be protected (Golding 168). To close its long list of symbolic uses, the conch is destroyed in a battle between the savages and the remaining boys. (Golding 181).

THE ANALYSIS OF THE CONCH

The conch shell’s symbolism throughout Lord of the Flies acts as a display of the boys’ attempts and failure to develop a civilization. From the first chapter of their story, the schoolchildren start with logical concepts, such as establishing communicative meetings, laws, and order. The conch represents these efforts throughout the novel. This tribe, meant to be orderly and civilized, splits apart (Golding 127), and the conch makes it evident that its power and authority are understood as the basis of the original tribe when its possession becomes a concern for the boys to uphold. Finally, upon the destruction of the conch shell, Golding makes it clear that the attempted civilization, established on the conch’s first assembly, is eliminated, with its foundation “exploded into a thousand white fragments” (Golding 181). The loss of the conch represents the end of civility on the island, with no authoritative or privileged object left. With such a grim end, the conch exhibited the futile endeavors that Ralph, Piggy, and all the other boys on the island participated in, and how they failed to propagate faster than the call to brutality and barbarity.

THE UTILIZATION OF FIRE

While not always as apparent as the conch, the usage of fire in Lord of the Flies provides a view into the connection to rescue that falters throughout the novel. The creation of fire on the island begins with Jack Merridew, one of the boys on the island (Golding 21), taking the glasses that Piggy wears to focus sunlight onto a pile of wood (Golding 40-41). This signal fire, intended to create smoke to attract the attention of a ship to the island (Golding 38), becomes uncontrolled. This unrestrained fire burns as the realization that there may have been boys caught in the fire (Golding 41) becomes apparent. The next notable instance of fire in Lord of the Flies occurs when Piggy and Ralph find that the signal fire was producing no smoke after believing to have spotted a ship in the distance (Golding 66). The cause for the fire being unattended was due to the actions of Jack (Golding 70), who claims to have needed as many people as possible for hunting, ignoring his duty in building shelters and watching the fire, contradictory to his previous statement, where he “said [he’d] keep the smoke going” (Golding 71). The necessity of the fire is revealed forebodingly, where the fire becomes “the most important thing on the island” (Golding 80), and the tribe “ought to die before [they] let the fire out” since they had to “make smoke up there—or die” (Golding 81) to be rescued. The importance of fire, while maintained to an extent, becomes a major turning point, when the second tribe that had formed on the island raids the first group for Piggy’s glasses (Golding 167-168), effectively taking the ability to create fire with them. The final significant usage of fire appears during a final struggle between Ralph and the tribe of savages, where he is forced into a cycle of constantly evading the smoke that is being used to drive him away from hiding (Golding 195).

THE ANALYSIS OF FIRE

The prominent handling of fire in Lord of the Flies allows the reader to better understand the passion and longing for rescue that the boys on the island feel. When fire is first started, it is done forcefully, with Piggy never giving consent for his glasses to be used. This first fire shows how the will to be rescued is unmistakable, where the need for fire is temporarily placed above the eyesight of Piggy. This fire begins an uncontrolled burning that also signifies the undeniable wanting to be rescued. However, this ardor shortly wanes when hunting is prioritized over bolstering the smoke signal, leading to the death of the fire. This unattentiveness from Jack shows the uncertain desire to be rescued that some of the boys feel. While some still felt that rescue was only possible with the use of fire, others later stole Piggy’s glasses to create a cooking fire, while not starting any noticeable smoke signals (Golding 178). This usage of fire, divergent from any other utilization of fire in Lord of the Flies, marks the end of many of the boys’ passion for rescue, as the tool that they once relied on for rescue loses its purpose. This loss of meaning for fire is magnified when Ralph is smoked out by the savages, completing the transition from using fire in an attempt to leave the island to using fire in an attempt to end the life of another boy. Similar to the conch shell, the ineffectual struggle to create a constant smoke signal provides insight into how the passion for rescue, which once literally burned, loses fuel and burns out, ending with savagery and failure to save themselves with their fire.

CONCLUSION

Through the plot of the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the conch shell, a symbol of authority and order, and fire, a representation of the craving for rescue, both share a major similarity: both reveal the unsuccessful attempts to establish and connect to civilization. Written into the plot of the novel, the reader can determine the state of the boys on the island through their interactions with the conch and with fire. These symbols and their utilizations stand as a testament to the boys’ changing situation and failures while on the island.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Faber and Faber, 1954.

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