How Is Piggy Presented In Lord Of The Flies

In the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding uses various items to show the main themes of the book. The book takes place in the midst of World War II and in the first few chapters, these themes start to appear. When Golding describes one of the main characters known as Piggy, he makes the readers perceive him as an intelligent boy by giving Piggy glasses. Throughout the book, the boys on the island disregard the intelligence of Piggy which leads to the fall of their civilization. Another item he uses to illustrate symbolism is the conch shell that Piggy finds on the beach. Later in the book they use the conch to show who is speaking and who is in charge. Overall Golding uses these special items to symbolize the main themes of civilization, order,

At the beginning of the novel when the Golding first introduces Piggy, he strictly emphasizes the importance of Piggy’s glasses. Piggy explained to Ralph, ‘“I’ve been wearing specs since I was three.” He took off his glasses and held them out to Ralph, blinking and smiling’ (Golding 9). When Piggy held his glasses out to Ralph, it symbolized Piggy offering his intelligence or perspective to Ralph. Piggy knows things that the other boys don’t. He knew how to use the conch shell, and he was aware of the need for order. He also knew if they were going to survive on the island without any parents to guide them they would need to have a leader. In order to make the signal fire, they use Piggy’s glasses, and without the signal fire, they would have never been rescued. A major turning point in the book is when part of Piggy’s glasses are broken. In keeping with the symbol, some of the boys begin to go against Ralph’s power and the boys’ loyalty is split in two. Some of the boys are loyal to Jack’s tyranny and some to Ralph’s order. Finally after Ralph and Piggy are attacked and Piggy’s glasses are broken, another bond to civilization is lost. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (Golding 168). Now that Piggy’s glasses are fully broken, most of the boys are forced to join Jack and his tribe. Piggy’s glasses serve as the only form of intelligence on the island and without intelligence it is very likely most of the boys would have died on the