In Lord of the Flies written by William Golding has a powerful transformation from civilization and to complete mayhem, throughout it shows the tipping points where people change. Firstly Jacks character arc is the driving factor in the change from civilization and order towards mayhem and chaos with the most noticeable part being his acceptance with death at his hand. Secondly the Conch had begun the community between the children holding them under some political order until its eventual lack of meaning. Finally the fear of the beast is another transformation towards chaos. Throughout the journey of Ralph, jack and the rest of them it is very clear that there is a desire for chaos.
At the start Jack was much more timid even though he wanting to be the hunters this shows he believed death was necessary even from the beginning. While on the first hunt Jack was unable to kill the first pig they encountered. “because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh” (Golding, 29) Jack clearly shows he still has some humanity at the moment by not cutting into the animal. Later, Jack doesn’t just kill a pig for the food but decapites the sow. “Presently he stood up, holding the dripping sow’s head in his hands. “Where’s that stick?” (Golding, 136) These actions show that Jack no longer has remorse for animals and is rapidly changing he now not only thinks killing the animals is necessary but has no care for the bodies. Nearing the end of the novel, Jack has his tribe who have become completely savage ‘hunt’ Ralph. “They’re going to hunt you to-morrow” (Golding, 209) This shows that Jack had planned a murder on Ralph his rival for leadership the last point connecting him to society and shows he is hungry for chaos. Jacks develops throughout becoming more and more savage as he goes slowly destroying civilization.
The Conch was the original symbol of civilization in the novel Lord of the Flies it was used to show a political system between the system and as the conch was ignored it shows them falling into anarchy. The conch originally was used to show who was speaking and call meetings “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). This shows that even from the beginning they understood it was a symbol of order.
127 our experts are availableright now
Especially piggy who had originally found it. Later in the novel, the conch starts losing some value and meaning as Jack doesn’t believe in its value. “The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain . . . so you shut up” (Golding, 32). This shows that out of the boundaries of the rest of the tribe the conch had lost value and does not work as a way to keep order any more. When Piggy was killed the original person to find the conch ends with it “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. … Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back…” (Golding, 200) This shows that when the collapse of the comch the main symbol of order is destroyed so is the second person who started the tribe. The conch was the symbol of order and civilization for the tribe.
