“It is the beginning of wisdom when you recognize that the best you can do is choose which rules you want to live by, and it's persistent and aggravated imbecility to pretend you can live without any,” (Wallace Stegner, All the Little Things). This quote provides an excellent example of how the characters in the book The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, act after escaping to a remote island after a brutal plane crash. Many of the “littluns”, although they are irresponsible, cannot conclude that order needs to exist on the island. Throughout this book, readers can tell that the hardest thing to enforce on this island are rules. What more can one expect from “littluns”? The group, at first, is led by one of the oldest kids on the island, Ralph, who is immediately challenged by Jack, the prestige choir kid who should be chief because “[He’s] chapter chorister and head boy. [He] can sing C sharp." (1.228-30). Before the …show more content…
Jack receives the conch and once again tries to convince the people that they should come join his tribe. When no one joins, Jack still respected the conch, laying it down nicely onto the ground after stating his argument. It is in this moment, that the conch begins to lose meaning. Him setting it down revealed a new beginning for Jack and his tribe. By chapter 11 this becomes very apparent when Piggy is killed, conch in hand. The conch is now a symbol of what used to stand but now has fallen. In this situation, Jack shows two very important traits: the respect for the rules that were set in place and that rules and leadership can and should be challenged. By putting down the conch nicely, he shows respect. By walking away, he shows that rules are meant to be challenged. “He laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet. The humiliating tears were running from the corner of each eye…I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you.”