The Conch Shell is a prime example of an otherwise ordinary object being of special significance to the story. You'll want to pay attention to:
- What the conch shell is
- When it appears/what happens when it appears/how the story is affected when it appears
- What it's function is (what it is used for)
- How the characters view the shell
...And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, how the the meaning of the shell CHANGES over the course of the story
The conch shell is used in the book as a form of order. Like when some elementary classes use a talking stick.
ReplyDeleteI think it starts on page 33
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ReplyDeleteNice, Nick. I would love for you to expand more on your analysis. Who finds the conch? Who decides on it's use? Where is it kept? Do any characters not respect it and the order it creates?
ReplyDeletePiggy is the one who first finds the conch and comes up with the idea of blowing into the shell to call the others. The character who disrespects the conch shell the most has to be Jack. But I'm not sure where it's kept.
ReplyDeletecool-- great additions. Keep an eye on it!
ReplyDeleteIt is almost as the conch represents a kind of "order" It keeps the boys civil in times of savagery.
ReplyDelete"Times of savagery"-- good one Katherine. Do you have any specific examples in mind?
ReplyDeleteFor example: when the group of hunters have just come back from getting the pig in chapter 4. They got all caught up in murdering the animal, they painted their faces and forgot all about their most important job of keeping the fire going, this lead to much debate and yelling between the whole group. To stop all of the madness, Ralph uses the conch to summon all of the boys down to a meeting in which they discuss what they must do to keep this island and their little community running properly-- remembering their manners and what they have learned.
ReplyDeleteNice, Katherine. Maybe this comment can also go toward what the FIRE may represent. After all...you say keeping the fire going is the most important job in your post. Why so?
ReplyDeleteI think that the conch Shell represents "power". In the book they pass around the conch so they can all have a chance to talk. which also could represent "order."
ReplyDeleteI think that maybe Ralph is using the conch as something to show that he is the leader and all of his ideas are good just because he has the shell and he is the leader. Whenever someone else comes up with a good idea (A.K.A Piggy) he will just tell the person that they can't talk because they don't have the conch even though it could have helped the successfulness of the way things work on the island.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abby how Ralph is using Piggy ideas and how he is using the conch to show that he is the leader.
ReplyDeleteWhen the conch breaks, all heck breaks loose in the story, Piggy dies and the rest of the kids have no control over themselves. The shell shatters and so does all of the civility they had shattered. This goes to show how the conch really did represent order.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katherine, and I also kind of think that in a way the conch didnt just represent order, but at the dame time it represented the boys as a group in general, the way it was going great at first, and then it was kind of like the boys civilization was going.... going.... gone, just like the shell.
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