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Symbolism and Power in Lord of the Flies
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People are constantly exposed to symbols. These symbols represent a multitude of things, from God and religion, to the logo of a popular brand. However different they may seem, symbols always evoke a certain emotion or reaction in people. In this way, a symbol can have power over a group. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each use special objects to control the other boys. The clash of these symbolic objects illustrates their mental and physical power struggles.
In the beginning of the novel, Ralph uses the conch to gain power. The beautiful, bright conch symbolizes law and order. The symbol of the conch was so influential that it contributed to Ralph’s winning the job of “chief”. “…But there was a stillness about Ralph that marked him out, there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, but most powerfully, there was the conch,” (22). As chief, Ralph used the conch to maintain an organized system, blowing the conch to call assemblies, and requiring every speaker to hold the conch, which temporarily gave them power and control over the audience. However, as their time on the island lengthened, many of the boys began to dislike and disregard the system of rules and regulations, especially as the notion of “the beast” became more widely accepted.
The beast symbolizes the innate savagery in human nature. All humans have some of the “beast”, or evil, buried within their soul. As the children on the island became less and less in touch with society, the idea of a savage creature became increasingly plausible. Jack used this to his advantage. Although Jack originally doubted the concept of the beast’s existence, he later accepted it as a fact. Jack seized power from Ralph by using the symbol of the beast and the fear it created. He offered the boys a way to appease the beast and to be safe without having to do anything as inconvenient as obeying rules. Jack said, “We’d better stay on the right side of him [the beast] anyhow. You can’t tell what he might do,” (161). The irony in the situation of Jack’s leadership is that even though he “tried” to kill off anything perceived as being “the beast”, the toughness and savagery he fostered in his followers unraveled the cruelty in their natures, their inner true beasts.
Ralph and Jack both used symbols to control the group of boys. The conch, symbolizing law and order, and the beast, symbolizing the savagery in human nature, clashed as the two boys’ power struggle intensified. In the end, the conch and Ralph lost power mostly because what they represented was no longer relevant or important to the majority of the boys. The beast, which became much more significant to the children, won and held absolute power until society interrupted and luckily brought things back into focus. In both cases, the symbols in Lord of the Flies had enormous power over the minds, and more important, the emotions of the children in the novel. This raises the question: how do today’s leaders use symbols to give them power over their subjects?
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