Essays on Conch Shell

Jane Doe

n/a n/a William Goulding’s novel, Lord of the Flies has not only been a classic piece of literature that is studied and admired throughout both the literary and academic world. The fascinating story of a group of young boys stranded on an island after their plane crashes was also produced into a film in 1963 by director Peter Brook, and then remade in 1990 by director Harry Hook. After observing the 1990 version of the film I was able to capture numerous core concepts and theories of sociology that were applicable to the events unfolding among the characters of ...

In the landmark novel The Lord of the Flies, author William Golding creates an almost mythic isolated island upon which he plane wrecks his main characters. These characters-- all English schoolboys-- have no adult supervision, and are left to their own devices on the island. At first, things are as one would expect them to be: the children play on the beach and explore the island. However, as survival instincts begin to affect the boys, the dynamic of the island changes. Suddenly, there is a divide between the children, throwing them headlong into a conflict between those who would let their ...

Background of the Author

William Golding was born and raised in Cornwall, United Kingdom (UK) in 1911. Having gained education at Marlborough Grammar School and Brasenose College in Oxford, Golding initially received training from his parents for him to become a scientist, yet he focused on English literature instead. Apart from being a writer, Golding also became a musician, sailor, lecturer and schoolmaster, and actor. Golding first published his written works in 1935 – a volume of poems he wrote with the influence of the education he received in Oxford. Bishop Wordsworth’s School gave Golding the opportunity to become a lecturer, although the Second World War cut his ...

William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, delves deep into the latent side of the human nature which gets exposed under certain circumstances bringing into light the capacity of indulging in savagery and the baleful influence of animalistic impulses. On being deserted on the island, Ralph and Piggy come across the conch shell on the beach at the inception of the novel. They use it to summon all of the boys after they are separated by the crash. Ralph says, “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.” (Golding) The conch shell transforms into the ...

Introduction

The Sow’s head impaled by Jack as an offering to the beast is an implicated symbol of animosity amongst the boys as to Simeon who confronts Jack of the animosity in human being hearts hence the evil in this case the power over the other less powerless creatures, while to Jack it is a sign of superiority hence high power. This differential in thinking put Simeon in trouble and hence his death. Contrary to Sow’s head there was a conch shell at the beach, which helped in summoning the boys together. The shell showed how people were orderly ...

Analysis of Lord of the Flies

William Golding’s dark masterpiece Lord of the Flies initially portrays a group of normal young boys, stranded on an island due to a plane crash, who eventually evolve into savage versions of themselves. It is fight between savagery and civilization, and Golding skillfully questions the notion which is innate to human beings: are we civilized beings by nature or is civilized behavior only imposed on us, while in essence, we are nothing more than animals? Golding’s answer is all too plain and tragic. In the beginning, the boys successfully manage to organize their stranded group and create a small ...