In his book, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbols to give power and meaning to his novel. Golding uses symbols to illustrate the main theme of the novel, which is the struggle between good and evil. “All human beings have a dark side which can cause the collapse of individual or community moral standards, if this dark side takes over reason and good thinking. ” (Henning Field, “An Overview of Lord of the Flies.”) The use of major and minor symbols clarifies the complex subject matter of the book. Others are minor symbols that often go unnoticed. They do not interfere with the plot, but add and clarify the idea and meaning of the novel. Without the use of symbols, Lord of the Flies would be just another adventure story. Instead, Golding uses symbolism to support and explain the dark side of humanity and how it affects his moral principles. The main symbols of Lord of the Flies are introduced to clarify the main ideas of the novel. They run throughout the novel and are linked to the plot. The conch is the first major symbol in the novel. When Piggy and Ralph found the shell, Piggy shows Ralph how to explode the conch to find out if there were any more on the island. This idea is a symbol of Piggy's intelligence. The conch is described as glamorous, delicate and precious. The value of the conch is seen later in the story. “If there was no conch there would probably be no gathering, no tension and no conflict between good and evil and the boys might have remained scattered across the island.” (Halder 139) The conch is a symbol of civilization as it has been used many times to bring everyone together. It is also a symbol of the order that society obtains from the democratic process. It symbolizes the need we have for a society with middle of paper ......island on island. But it also represents a war society. The boys are saved from the green island that has turned them wild by an adult who represents a war society. When rescued, the boys are no longer "green". They saw and became as bad as those in the adult world. William Golding wrote “Lord of the Flies” after World War II. He wrote this book to demonstrate that it is false to believe that evil only exists in other parts of the world. It exists all over the world, including our country. Evil existed in the adult world from which the boys escaped. This also existed in the world they created on the island. Through the use of symbolism, Golding showed that all human beings have a dark side which, if left unchecked, can cause the moral standards of the individual or society to disintegrate..