Sam Andres, Brad Ray, Trevor Blake, and Grant Johnson By William Golding IDEA English II Accelerated Period 3 Mr. Mooney A Symbolic Representation of

Conch Shell “S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable-” (Golding 15). –Brings the boys together in a meeting starting a democracy and has great power as who ever uses it brings the boys together. “Conch?” “That’s what this shell is called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” “And he won’t be interrupted.” (Golding 33). –Power for the person who has it so that everyone can give their opinion.

Conch (cont.) “The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exit” –Democracy is finally destroyed as the conch was their main form of order.

Super- Ego The super-ego acts as the conscious, maintaining our sense of morality Acts as the father figure, the good angel on your shoulder keeping the devil (ID) under control It is the preconscious part of Iceberg in the ocean “ ‘Kill him! Kill him!’…The desire to squeeze and hurt was over- mastering. Jack’s arm came down; the heaving circle cheered and made pig-dying noises.” (Golding, 115) “ ‘I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’...They looked at each other, baffle, in love and hate.” (Golding, 54, 55)

Ego Ego is defined as the self of any person. It mediates between the Id and the Super-ego and can be described as the platform for reasoning. “The twins answered his question indirectly. ‘You got to go now, Ralph.’ ‘For you own good.’ ‘Keep away. As far as you can.’” (Golding 189). More closely associated towards the upper spectrum of ego, Samneric relay a sense of self to Ralph telling him he must go for his own good.

Ego (cont.) Defense mechanisms may also be associated with ego whenever the Id behavior conflicts with society. “There were many things he could do. He could climb a tree; but that was putting all his eggs in once basket. If he were detected, they had nothing more difficult to do than wait.” (195) Ralph was considering the possibilities of a fight or flight response. He could either hide at the risk of being found, or the other idea of fighting at the risk of being hurt.

Ralph “ ‘That was a dirty trick.’ Ralph said no more, did nothing…Jack was loud and active…and still Ralph was silent. No one, not even Jack, would ask him to move…So Ralph asserted his chieftainship and could not have chosen a better way if he had thought for days. Against this weapon, so indefinable and so effective, Jack was powerless and raged without knowing why” (Golding 73). Ralph clearly represents democracy throughout the novel. In this quote you can see that although Jack has already begun to tap into his Id and has lost sight of much of his ego and super ego, he is still kept in line by Ralph. When Ralph decides to take charge and make a stand Jack is left “powerless”. Ralph has the conch, so Ralph has the power.

Ralph (cont.) “ ‘Let’s vote –’ ‘Him with the shell.’ ‘Ralph! Ralph!’ ‘Let him be chief…’ Ralph raised a hand for silence” (Golding 22). “ ‘Who’s boss here?’ ‘I am,’ said Ralph loudly” (Golding 201). Ralph is quickly established the leader in the beginning, without question. Although he struggles for power in the middle, as any democracy does, he once again regains his position as the group’s leader at the end. Jack does not object to Ralph’s loud statement at the end.

Ego, Super-Ego, Ralph and the Conch Each of these four symbols contributes to the novel’s theme. They all represent some sort of order or civilization. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies these ideas were strongly symbolized and present, but as the story progressed, they became weaker. Symbols that go against all order and civilization, such as Jack, Roger, and the Id began to take over and the Ego, Super-Ego, Ralph, and the Conch had to fight to stay in charge. They struggled, but in the end, Ralph, the Ego, and the Super- Ego showed up again so as to begin to bring the boys back to what the conch had once represented. The bottom line

Works Cited "Clip Art." Microsoft Clip Art Online. 26 Oct "Conch Sound." 26 Oct "Conch Video." Yahoo. 26 Oct &b=5&oid=8cc5571a89a7e90e&rurl=goals.com&vdone=http%3 A%2F%2Fvideo.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fvideo%3Fp%3Dconch %26toggle%3D1%26ei%3DUTF-8.> Gerenser, Scott. "Lord of the Flies." 2 Oct Oct Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: The Berkeley Group, 1954.