Lord of the Flies symbolism study

Lord of the Flies symbolism

The conch
The conch symbolises a ordered and well structured society. It is what brings the boys together in the first place, and shows them the rules "We've got to have rules and obey them". However Jack starts to undermine the conch's power with the boys, claiming different rules should apply in different places. The conch itself reflects the changing society going from "deep cream, touched here and there with fading pink" to "bleached the yellow and pink to near-white, and transparency". This shows the fading of the rules, and normal society. The conch's ultimate destruction also show the ending of a fair and just society as it "exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist". This shows the end of a society, and as it occurs at the same moment as Piggy's demise is also linked to the end of intelligence on the island. 

The beast
The beast is throughout the book linked with death. It first 'appears' to the boys as a dead parachutist, and is offered gifts of pig's heads…