2009. A symbol is
an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range
of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea,
clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and,
focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in
the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a
whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a conch shell is used
to symbolize order and civilization throughout the novel. This is done through
strategic timing, uses of the object, and changes reflecting on it. Golding
uses the deterioration of the conch to emphasize the absence of society and the
effects that it has on the boys.
At the beginning of the novel,
the sound of the conch is used to assemble the boys who are stranded on the
island. Once together, it is also used to signify who may speak—whoever holds
the shell can talk and all others must remain silent. By having the boys use
the conch in these ways it comes to represent order by keeping them together
and under control. It also indicates the ideas of civilization through the organization
of power and the control over the group of boys. Without the shell the boys
would not have been able to come together all at once and discuss. They also
would not have been able to hold a mature meeting in which they were able to
discuss their options and ideas—a necessity in any civilization.
As the novel continues, the boys
begin to lose their sense of order with which they began. As this occurs, the conch shell begins to fade
away as well. For example, as Jack and his followers become more ruthless in their
hunting and start to rebel against Ralph’s leadership, the once deep pink of
the shell turns to a pale cream, and as the story progresses it continues to become
meekly colored by a cloudy transparency. When Piggy, the only character to
truly maintain all of the ideals of civilization throughout the novel, is
killed, Golding writes that the conch shell shatters completely. In doing this
he is symbolizing the complete deterioration of all sense of order that the
boys had began with.
William Golding uses the decomposition of the conch
shell to show the meaning of the novel, which is without the rules of society, people
would be consumed with self interest and be evil in nature. The symbolization affiliated with the conch
shell signifies the process of this occurring with the youth in the story. Because
children have not been exposed to civilization for as long as adults, they are
able to lose their grasp on the importance of it. As this occurs, they also
become more self indulgent and vicious without true purpose. Since the order
that the boys once knew fades with the color of the conch, Golding’s overall
meaning in the novel is emphasized.
The
conch shell in Lord of the Flies not
only symbolizes order and civilization as it begins to deteriorate throughout the
novel, but also contributes to the overall meaning of the work that Golding
was portraying. The corresponding of the loss of all remnants of the ideals of society
and the fading conch emphasizes the effects on the boys and the savagery consumes
them. This ultimately reflects that without the rules and constraints of civilization,
humans would be selfish and evil.
I think the author's name is actually "Golding", not "Goulding" (like Ellie Goulding).
ReplyDeleteYour thesis statement is good, except for your point of "strategic timing". I don't think the timing of the conch shell is relevant to add in your essay.
In the second paragraph, the second-to-last line, you talk about how the shell assembles the boys to "discuss". And while you do elaborate in the next sentence, when you end the sentence with "discuss", it leaves readers feeling like: "what are they discussing?". Your points in this paragraph are good, but you are repeating the same ideas over and over. Your main idea is that in the beginning of the novel, the conch shell is able to create a sense of order and civilized society. But instead of reiterating everything again, you could talk about how the boys liked the idea of using a conch shell. And this showed how these survivors still preferred the feeling of civilization.
Individually, your ideas in the third body paragraph are not very strong. Instead, I would recommend you take the best ideas from this paragraph, and add it on to the one above (the one about Piggy).
I would rephrase your sentence: "The corresponding of the loss of all remnants of the ideals of society and the fading conch emphasizes the effects on the boys and the savagery consumes them" to:
"The corresponding loss of the remnants of civilized society and the physical and metaphorical fading of the conch emphasizes the detrimental effect on the boys." You can add your point of "the savagery consumes them" to an other line.
In the very last line, when you say: "This ultimately reflects that without the rules and constraints of civilization, humans would be and evil", the word "reflect" might not be the best choice for the sentence. Instead, you might simply say that "This ultimately SHOWS...".
I would work on your structure. In your thesis, you put forth the structure: "strategic timing, uses of the object, and changes reflecting on it." However, you don't include strategic timing in your essay at all.
ReplyDeleteYou may also want to elaborate on your points. You talk about the changes in color, but not about what they MEAN. Ergo, you are giving details but not analysis, and that will hurt you on the AP lit exam.
There are some grammatical errors ("which is without the rules of society" should be "which is that without the rules of society") that you should probably fix up.
Another small thing is when you keep using Golding's name throughout the essay. You use phrases like "Golding writes" or "Golding's overall meaning". You could omit mention to Golding in these cases (especially in the second case, in which it's NOT Golding's meaning, it's the novel's meaning)
I agree with Sam, focus more on you're structure. I thought your attention remained around the prompt, but it would of flowed better with a more solid structure. You did we'll not summarizing the plot, but you did summarize the apperances of the conch and that to me seemed more like a summary than an analysis. Overall great response!
ReplyDeleteFor the essay work on the structure. The strategic timing issue is a glaring mistake in this post. For your next essay if you incorporate this it would help the reader not to be left dangling. Some grammatical errors in the essay but that can improve with time.
ReplyDelete