The Lord of the Flies- can someone take alook at this and tell me wut they think?! please and thank you!?

Question

we have to do an essay on symbolism of the conch and the lord of the flies...

so far i notes:
the conch was used as a symbol of democracy because it showed that everyone had the right to speak..but they had to wait tillt hey were given the conch..so that everyone had an euqal chance to speak their opinion- also represents the equality people SHOULD have during meetings..as the shell looses attention...more and more of the government ralph and the children has created falls apart...when the conch is gone, government is gone...this is showed at the end of the book where Piggy dies and the conch is crushed into pieces

the sow head--the lord of the flies--- the evil within human nature..the devil personality everyone has that always yearns for more and more power/control no matter how much they are already given...how fear can quickly drive all hatred and horro towards one goal; in this case destruction of a specific gov

wut else can i put for the lord of the flies??

Answer 1

One thing it shows is the inherit folly of pure democracy. People are capricious and unreliable in the short term. They can very rapidly change and tear down the institution. They are prone to manipulation by evil. Evil comes from one or a few and infects the rest unless you make a bulwark against it.

That's why all modern democracies are balanced with the rule of law. There are very real boundaries to freedom. Rather than being free form, we have institutions. Rather than being pure, we have democracy by representation. Why? To prevent what happened in the Lord of the Flies.

Here is an example that happens when you don't build that bulwark strong enough....nazi germany. Hitler was a popular figure who was VOTED into power. He dismantled the rule of law and, in a very short time, his evil infected the rest of the people. As they engaged in heinous evil, the very concept of democracy for them was shattered.

This illustrates something very clearly using real world experience. Which is more important. Freedom or the rule of law? The rule of law.

Also, one of the main themes of the book is these are children. Inexperienced and capricious. They are both ignorant and disdainful of the rules that adults have (the rule of law). They opt for freedom, especially freedom from these rules. They learn the hard way what a spectacularly bad idea that is.

So the symbolic here is pretty strong. Democracy is beautiful, yet fragile. It leads to freedom. But that freedom can be dangerous because people act and think like children, are selfish and easily manipulated. This is fertile ground for evil which, if allowed to take root can destroy everything and shatter democracy. The way to prevent this is the rule of law. People, being immature and selfish, balk at the rule of law. But, God forbid you give into this from them. That way leads to death (the symbolic of Piggy).

This is quite the opposite of your conclusion. You assume that the power and control are inherently evil while freedom is good. While it was a desire to be free from moral constraints that lead to disaster and an insistence on pure democracy that left them helpless against it. You missed the point.

Answer 2

That's not your entire essay is it? I hope not. When you are writing an essay, you need to sit down and sketch out the things you are going to talk about. The essay is on symbolism, so read through the book again, its very short, and pick out at least three different symbols that jump at you, like you have done with the two above.

Next, when you are writing your essay there are things that you need to consider. First, tell the reader what you are going to tell them, many times called the Thesis. Second, tell them about the symbolism, this is the body of you essay. Finally, tell them what you told them.

With an essay like this, it is hard to be wrong, because when it comes down to symbolism, its really a matter of interpretation. Your teacher/professor is more looking to see if you can form coherent thoughts and put them into a structure for reading.

Try some of these links to help you out:

http://www.uk-student.net/modules/wfsection/viewarticles.php?category=2

Answer 3

Lord of the Fly is nothing more than the imagination of the boys, to put their fears into something. They are so afraid that they put their fears into this "Creature" the sow. The sow represents the devil, and how the devil is trying to lure the rest of the boys to turn to savagery. Simon on the other hand represents good. The sow also represents savagery, and how as the boys turn more savaged, the sow becomes more important. because they are now sacrificing to the sow! It also represents how the boys lose hope in survival and being rescued. The conch symbolizes democracy as you said, and with the going of the book, and the destruction of the conch, the broken conch represents the fall of democracy and the start of "war" (Between Jack and Ralph) IT doesn't necessarily mean that government is gone, it means that democracy and all that Ralph stood for ( good of man kind and the simple necessities of life ) is now destroyed.

Answer 4

Don't forget Simon and his death. This is a major turning point in the book. Remember how he died? Why he died? And the chaos that followed after his death? Remember, he died because of the fear of the "monster" that was instilled in the minds of the children by the "government." Government lead fear (monsters or even WMD's), only leads to bad results. Simon represents this in the book.

Answer 5

I think you are spot on. With out rules there is kiosis. Man kind does not know how to be civil with out rules. Flesh out you essay and you got it.