If you think of a symbol of authority, you hardly think of seashells. But this was what was available for Ralph and his crew of abandoned students. I was keen on finding how the conch played a big part in being the symbol for order and resolve; if you had it you could call an assembly or dictate your opinion and you could also show off your ability as favoring dissension by not wanting to have anything to do with it especially when you have gone savage. Here are some details from the time it was first discovered with special reference to the big three in the story, Ralph, Piggy and Jack.
Ralph was a person who would want to command authority until of course he had become afraid of the loss of the members of his group to the break away group commanded by Jack. When it was first discovered it was something that one would regard with respect and even served as a bone of contention in determining the hierarchy of the group. That was because members who wanted to speak up when not having the shell soon discovered that they were shut up when another member held onto it.
Perhaps Piggy took this to his advantage because he was not as physically strong as Ralph or jack yet knew that holding onto it meant a chance at being able to organize a forum and discuss the problems of survival. It was important to keep the object from breaking; there was some reference to its fragility and gradually its power over some of the children weakened until Jack made a reference of it having no influence on his part of the island. Piggy would hold onto it even in the face of his final confrontation with the group that wanted to hunt over reasoning out the purpose of a continuous fire.
Later then in the story the conch became associated with everything that would bring the children to safety, the fire used to cook as well as to bring warmth, and the glasses that were to be used to make that fire. No wonder that when the conch was finally broken, Piggy who represented a sense of order and purpose was killed, his glasses had been stolen and the fire that was intended primarily to generate smoke was only meant for the purpose of hunting and killing. If the sailor had not landed it is likely that Jack would have reigned supreme in his terror on the island.
