Chapter 1: The Sound of the Conch

Literature-in-English: Lord of the Flies Motif: The Conch (Part 1)

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In colour the shell was deep cream, touched here and there with fading
pink. Between the point, worn away into a little hole, and the pink lips of
mouth, lay eighteen inches of shell with a slight spiral twist and covered
with a delicate, embossed pattern.

He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable –

What is the significance of Piggy recalling how his neighbour owned a conch and
how he used it?

A deep, harsh note boomed from under the palms, spread through the intricacies of the
forest and echoed back from the pink granite of the mountain. Clouds of birds rose from the
tree-tops, and something squealed and ran in the undergrowth.

“The note boomed again: and then at his firmer pressure, the note, fluking up an octave,
became a strident blare more penetrating than before.”

What is significant about this description of the conch’s sound?

“We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us --”
(Piggy)
The children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the men with
megaphones.

What is significant about the effect the conch has on the children?

But 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.

What qualities does the conch seem to have? What effect does it have?