order and discipline

• “We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.” 


  • “Hands up” symbolises democracy, fairness, and rule of law—all of which erode over time.
  • ralph tries to maintain a familiar routine + structure for safety and preventing chaos
  • order collapses later in the novel, when shouting and violence replace civil discussion.Golding uses this to show that order is fragile
• "the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.”


  • Symbolism: The conch = law, structure, democracy; its destruction = the triumph of anarchy.
  • white represents purity and peace. Its shattering into pieces shows the ruin of innocence and hope.
  • explosion of the conch happens at the same moment as Piggy’s death, linking the death of reason (Piggy) with the destruction of order (the conch)