The title of Chapter Ten, "The Shell and the Glasses,"
focuses on two symbols of power on the island: the conch shell and Piggy's
glasses.
The
Conch
- Ralph controls the conch
and with it, the power to call the other boys to assembly and give, or conversely not
give, them the power to speak. The conch is a powerful symbol from day one on the
island, and when Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric are attacked in their hut at night, they
fear the worse--that Jack has come to claim the power of the conch for himself, thus
solidifying his role as chief on the
island.
The
Glasses
- Piggy controls the
glasses, and with them, the power to make fire on the island. Jack and the hunters
cannot cook their spoils of hunting without them, and Jack very well does not wish to
lower himself to ask a favor of Piggy, a boy he so openly loathes.
At the end of the chapter, Piggy discovers
that Jack has not, in fact, stolen the conch, but rather his glasses. Jack's decision
to steal the glasses but leave the conch is significant, because his choice truly
reveals his belief that the conch, and the way it represented orderly behavior and
taking turns, no longer matters to the tribe of hunters. The hunters have not only
stolen the power to make fire, but they have also visibly rebuffed the remaining symbol
of authority on the island, Ralph's conch shell.
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