At the beginning of the novel, Golding displays the power of a lifeless conch and a sow's head, two meaningless objects that transformed English schoolchildren structured into wild ones in a few days. At the beginning of the novel, Golding uses the conch to show the power of structure and civilization on the island. Throughout the book, Golding shows the decline of the conch and the rise of the sow's head. At the end of the book, Golding displays the full power of the sow's head and a complete loss of power of the conch. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses symbolism via the conch shell and the sow's head to show the gradual loss of structure and the rise of savagery. f structure and civilization symbolized by the conch. When Ralph first blows the conch, the boys respect Ralph and admire him because of the power of the conch. The boys even voted for Ralph rather than Jack because Ralph had blown that conch shell: “Let him be the leader with the trumpet,” the boys said. The so-called democracy boys, not knowing Ralph or Jack, had simply chosen to vote for Ralph because he has this shell of no real meaning. The conch had governed the boys' meetings and gave whoever held the shell the right to speak, making the conch more than a shell but a symbol of structure and order on the island. But structure and order only have power if people are willing to follow the rules. What the boys want at the beginning of the book is because they are used to following the rules and think it's safer and more convenient, but as they progress through the island the conch begins to lose its power because boys are not as willing to respond to the rules. Throughout the novel, Golding shows the decline of the conch and the rise of the sow's head. As the boys progressed... middle of paper ...... had power. Piggy can be seen as symbolizing the adults of civilization, as they tend to know what is best and have no real power over people unless boys or children choose to listen. The conch, symbol of structure and order, has now disappeared along with the pig, symbol of adults and any hope of returning to civilization while savagery has taken its place. Jack then states "since there is no conch, then their tribe doesn't exist" as he then attempts to kill Ralph with his spear. showing that no rules obligated anyone, now displaying total savagery. In conclusion, Golding showed through symbols the shift of power from structure to savagery. From the beginning, it was civilized and structured while the conch held the power. In the middle when power passes from the conch to the sow's head. Finally the end showing how the English schoolboys transformed into true savages and in full power at the head of the sow..