Golding uses symbolic objects to convey his opinion of the necessity of structure for people to function in a group. Probably the most important object in the novel is the conch shell. The shell is found by Ralph on the beach shortly after the boys arrive on the island. The conch is described on page 16 as being colored "a deep cream, touched here and there with fading pink...covered with a delicate, embossed pattern." Ralph blows in one end of the shell emitting a "deep, harsh tone"(17) which lead the other boys to the beach for the first meeting. This was the very first example of the power that the conch would come to have, and lose. The conch represents power and authority throughout the novel, because whoever holds the conch has the right to speak uninterrupted. However, as the boys' society decays, and the conch fade

Simon, a younger boy, is the Christ figure in the novel. Simon learned from his hallucinations with the Lord of the Flies the secret of the "beast". Simon's hallucinations were like messages from God to be passed on to the others on the island, he knew that the beast existed only in their imagination was actually the evil inside them. Unfortunately, before Simon could convey the solution to surviving on the island to the others, they killed him in a mob-like fashion:"The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast [Simon] was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face...The crowd leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore."(152) His death reinforced the notion of the prevalence of emotion in a life threatening situation.

The Lord of the Flies, a pig's head on a pike, one symbol in the novel for evil, or Satan. To Jack it was meant as a sacrifice to the "beast" which controlled the boys through fear. When Simon talked with the Lord of the Flies he learned what true evil was, it's "part of you, close, close, close!" The enlightened Simon never got the chance to explain to the others that the beast was within all of them and could be beaten, because he had angered the Lord of the Flies by not being scared. When Simon returned to the group, they killed him when a chant got out of hand. Allowing evil to continue to take over the island.

Throughout the Lord of the Flies William Golding's microcosm of the real world reinforces his idea of the descent of man from civilization into savagery and anarchy in the absence of structure. His use of symbols allows the reader to more easily distinguish between good and evil. This descent of man is epitomized by the shift from Ralph, good, to Jack, evil, as the boys' choice of leader.

Jack Merridew underwent an enormous change throughout the novel. In the beginning he arrives, leading the choir in a most organized fashion. However,

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1317
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)