Why was the decision about the conch made in Lord of the Flies?

Answer 1

Piggy and Ralph discover the conch together- as it is Piggy who sees it and identifies what it is but Ralph who fishes it out of the water. Thi si the start of their relationship where Piggy theorises and uses his wosdom, yet Ralph is the one who takes action and actually gets things done.

The conch then continues to be a symbol of order and civilized society throughout the novel, as the one thing that the boys follow and brings them together into their meetings. The rules associateed with the conch mean that the children need to meet at the meeting place. The other rule is that somebody needs to be holding the conch in order to speak in a meeting. This rings back to the school assembly and the civilization that the children are used to.

However, near the end of the novel as it is shattered during Piggy's death it demonstates the complete breakdown of society and turn to savagery.

Throughout the novel power belongs to the person with the conch up until the end,,where even though Piggy is holding th conch nobody listens to him and he is eventually murdered. This could show a range of things. One is that at this point society has a;ready broken down and not even the conch can stop the decent into savagery. Another is that it is Piggy who is too weak to wield the conch, and it needs to be in the right hands to mean anything.

Answer 2

In "Lord of the Flies," the decision about the conch was made because it symbolized order and authority within the group of boys stranded on the island. The conch was used to call meetings and only the person holding the conch had the right to speak. The decision to respect the conch was made to maintain a sense of civility and democracy among the group.