Symbols

• conch


  symbol of democracy, civilisation and order
• "We don't need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things" - Jack


  Jack breaking down the civilisation on the island, going against democracy
• "the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist"


  with the death of Piggy, democracy on the island too died
• "I got a conch...I got a right to speak" - Piggy


  one of the last characters to hold onto democracy
• the beast


  created by the boys imagination, powerful symbol of fear, violence and perhaps war itself
• "the snake-thing"


  • religious imagery - the snake in the garden of Eden
  • thing - ambiguous vague, the boys are in the dark
  • fear of the unknown
• "beastie"


  • childish idea
  • foreshadowing that the beast is them
• "maybe it's only us"

  • only the most spiritual character was able to see that the beast was the boys
  • the rest of the boys never find out as savagery had taken over
  • the beast had already taken over
• "mankind's essential illness"


  Golding wants the reader to consider that everyone has a beast within them, man is born with it
• "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood"


  Simon is seen as the beast before he dies
• Piggy's glasses


  • ironic symbol
  • highlight his physical inferiority
  • symbol of his wisdom or clear sighted ability to see the truth
  • symbol of survival
  • symbol of Jack's power
• "Piggy put on his glasses"


  • attempts to see clearly
  • he is using his intellect to think logically about the boys situation
  • symbolise scientific reasoning
• "His specs-use them as burning glasses"


  • used to start the first signal fire
  • symbolise science and power of fire, linking the boys and the civilised world
  • foreshadows when Jack later steals Piggy's glasses
• "Piggy's glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks"

  • Jack is frustrated by the power struggle with Ralph
  • assault symbolises savagery and lawlessness, attacking order intellect and civilisation
  • the broken lenses symbolise the loss of intellectual thought on the island and things begin to fall apart
• "his damaged glasses and cleaned the remaining lens"


  • though they're broken Piggy is still attempting to see
  • Piggy is trying his best to remain rational and civilised
• "dangled Piggy's broken glasses"


  • Jack's tribe have taken control on the island, Ralph has lost the power to maintain order
  • symbolises that savagery on the island is winning
• the fire


  • used to symbolise the "League of Nations"
  • used by Ralph as a rescue strategy
  • turned into a symbol of destruction and hell
• "We must make a fire"


  • represents the boys' communication with the outside world
  • they are following strategy and organisational thinking
  • foreshadows the destructive and deadly force the fire becomes as the boys lose their touch with civilisation and the adult world
• "fire merged into a drumroll"


  • rages out of control
  • kills the boy with the mulberry mark - unknown murder
  • foreshadows the future savage killings on the island
  • duality as the fire destroys but finally saves them from the island also
• Jack's mask


  • symbol of his descent into savagery and loss of identity as a civilised being
  • colours are significant red, black and white - blood, death and loss of innocence
  • cover of the mask liberates him from his previous moral code
  • allows him to express primitive urges more freely without shame
• "the mask compelled him"


  • savagery is taking control
  • encouraging him
• parachutist


  • symbol of the adult world
  • dead parachutist, victim of war
  • descent of the corpse can be a symbol of man's descent into savagery
• "a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute"

  the dead parachutist being spotted