Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships - the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.” In this statement, Roosevelt argues that a civilization is based on the intellectual human communication of individuals. When this gets taken away, the civilization crumbles. William Golding writes about this in his novel, Lord of the Flies, a story of boys stranded on an island whom establish systems of organization to survive. A boy named Ralph is selected as chief, and immediately a power struggle begins between him and another boy named Jack. As time goes by, powerful connections to the culture of the old world that they came from …show more content…
This point is told through various symbols that include the conch, piggy’s glasses, and the signal fire.
The conch in Lord of the Flies directly symbolizes the fall of order that a civilization provides. When Ralph and Piggy are strolling down the beach and formulating a plan of action, they stop to salvage a shiny object from a lagoon. This object turns out to be a conch shell, and Piggy insightfully exclaims, “‘[w]e can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-’ He beamed at Ralph. ‘That was what you meant, didn’t you? That’s why you got the conch out of the water?’” (Golding 16). Piggy’s idea demonstrates the …show more content…
Early in the course of the novel the boys decide that they must build a fire to signal passing ships, and use Piggy’s specs to light it. Jack snatches the glasses off of Piggy’s face and he yells, “‘Mind out! Give ’em back! I can hardly see! You’ll break the conch!’ Ralph elbowed him to the side and knelt by the pile” (Golding 40). This reveals the beginning of savagery on the island, as the boys aggressively assault Piggy for his glasses. This reveals how the discussion on the island strays away from the intellectual communication presented in the first meeting. Consequently, the boys lose the ability to have equal discussions, and decline into a state of savagery. Later, when Jack’s hunters fail to keep the fire alive during a possible ship encounter, Piggy speaks his mind and gets slapped across the face. After this, “Piggy [grabs] and [puts] on the glasses. He looked malevolently at Jack. ‘I got to have them specs. Now I only got one eye. Jus’ you wait-’” (Golding 72). When Piggy’s specs break, it symbolizes the connection to the old world being lost. The “one eye” that is left shows that the boys are taking the intelligence and order out of their communication. Instead of talking to Piggy about his diverging opinion, Jack attacks him. The destruction of Piggy and his glasses are a symbol of the destructive communication that turns the island