In the novel Lord Of The Flies, by William Golding, two symbols are brought to life by human nature. Both symbols, the conch shell and the dead sow's head, represent two different ideas of survival when stranded on the island. These symbols are used in the story to represent the need for power and savagery in humans and how these needs are different for everyone. One thing that both symbols have in common is their overwhelming power over the group of boys throughout the book.
             The role of the conch changes ends of the spectrum from the beginning to the end of the story. At the beginning of the story the conch shell represented the humane and organized side of the boys and the island. The shell also gave the boys a sense of power. For example, " ...there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch"(page 22). The conch is the main reason why Ralph was elected chief; the boys felt he was powerful because he possessed the conch. During Ralph's reign as chief, he was able to control and organize the boys with the ruling conch shell. However, as much as the conch represented organization and power, the boy's lost respect for the conch eventually changing what it symbolized. For example, during a group meeting Jack spoke out of turn saying "we don't need the conch anymore, we know who ought to say things"(page 101). As the beast inside of them began to overtake their sense of right and wrong, new symbols began to take hold. Civilized thinking declined and savage ways began to take over.
             Before, the boys reasoning for hunting was survival and food. Jack was first elected to be the hunter. His savage killing of the sow and the mounting of its head on the stake became the symbol of the boys changing from the civilized ways of Ralph's thinking to the savage ways of
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