Piggy is very central to the theme development in Lord of the Flies. He represents the idea of law and order, reason and logic. Piggy represents the useful aspect of civilization, an attitude that becomes gradually smaller and finally is silenced through the forces of authority and control. Piggy turn into a social outcast from the pressure of society in which being logical is considered unimportant. William Golding shows that reasoning is not valued in the society and that evil controls us. Piggy is the most rationale person in the group. He is the voice of reason and a symbol of civilization throughout the novel, and is always careful to make decisions that will benefit the group. While the rest of the boys devolve, or return to a more primitive way of life, Piggy remains civilized. While the rest of the boys have long hair and dirty bodies, as well as a new way of thinking based on instinct rather than well thought out ideas, Piggy still resembles the civilized, modern man that he was when he first landed on the island. Piggy remains rationale and civilized even at the end of the novel. After Jack has stolen Piggy's glasses, one of the last reminders of civilization that the boys' had on the island, he still manages to remain calm and logical. Rather than try and fight with Jack like a savage Piggy says, "I'm …show more content…
This represents the intellectual side of humanity. His eyesight may be weak, but his insight is powerful. Piggy is bullied to the point where his glasses are taken away which he depends on, so the consequence is being helpless whereas the others can handle the rigor of the island. Piggy’s character is unappreciated by the boys and his intelligence is ignored and uncared for. They see him as just another animal hence him being killed as though he was one. Ironically, they have become animals themselves by the acceptance of murder. His presence is not welcomed as well as his
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Show MoreWilliam Golding’s fictional, British novel, Lord of the Flies, presents a character that serves a two-part function as a “scapegoat” and a certain commentary on life. During WWII, a group of British boys are being evacuated via plane when they crash and are stranded on an island without adults. As time progresses, the innate evilness of human nature begins to overcome the savage society of young boys while Piggy, an individual representation of brains without brawn, becomes an outlier as he tries to resist this gradual descent of civilness and ends up shouldering the blame for the wrongdoings of the savage tribe. Up until his untimely death, Piggy is portrayed as the most intellectual and most civil character in the group of stranded boys. Right from the beginning, Piggy realized that “[they] got to do something,” (8) and he recognized the shell Ralph had picked up as a conch.
This mode works as an appeal to logic as well as reasoning. Piggy can be seen as the most rational boy on the island compared to all the other boys. As a logical person, he is able to control his emotions as well as analyze any situation with a clear head. His personality enables him to resolve conflicts that the boys may face on the island. As he tries to assist the boys on the island as the brains behind Ralph’s ideas, Piggy demonstrates his appeal to logic and reasoning by being the first one to suggest that the first thing they need was “shelters down there by the beach” furthermore he adds, “how can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper” (Golding 45).
It is shown in the beginning, Piggy appears as a scared little boy that got badly bullied at school. He differs from others because of his weight, asthma, and glasses. The children assume that his appearance means that he would not be a good leader. Although Piggy provided large amounts
Whenever Piggy threatens Jack, “Just you wait-” he said. “Jack mimicked the whine” (Golding 72), showing he didn’t take it seriously. Nevertheless, in a later chapter, it shows Jack, now the chief of a new tribe, ambushing Ralph and them and leaving, and “his left hand” is “dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (Golding 168). The sentence proves the thesis heavily. As the reader knows, Piggy and his glasses represent intelligence on the island, and out of the boys, he is the smartest.
He cares about the good for society. Piggy is unique from the rest of the boys because he is the only orphan on the island. Being an orphan, he has to think for himself, and makes decisions that benefit his “Auntie” assuming she is old, and himself. Causing Piggy to have the unique ability to think, and have the voice of an adult. In chapter 11, Piggy holds up the conch in front of Jack’s tribe and says, “Which is better—to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?”
In the book Jack is always making fun of Piggy. Jack was being rude to Piggy and saying his fat behind doesn’t do nothing to help while piggy was trying to talk. However some of the time Piggy stands up for himself, “I got the conch … you let me speak!”(Golding 33). Piggy illustrates how its not easy to have integrity. This is because whenever he tries to talk the others mainly Jack just tell him to shut up or take his glasses from him making him feel uncomfortable.
Piggy’s personality nevertheless further enables him to resolve conflicts the boys may face on the islands. As Piggy tries to assist the boys on the island and sort out any issues or conflict with his rationality, the word logical is surely the most fitting trait . Piggy’s character in the novel thinks with
Piggy has a really hard time trying to be powerful and lead the group, but his actions and the actions of the other boys show that he can’t hold power over a group, and they show why Piggy has a hard
Piggy is very intelligent, he comes up with ideas on how to help the boys survive on the island from the moment they crashed on it. Ralph starts begins to admire him for this clear focus on their rescue off the island. “ we can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us” (Pg 16)
All throughout the book Piggy is faced with many challenges where most people would act in a bad manner, although Piggy is always responding very appropriately and does not act wrongly against the other. All these examples show how Piggy
This displays how Piggy is sagacious and knowledgeable, by giving accommodating propositions in a time of desperate need when the rest of the boys are quite lost and do not quite know what to do, for he is the only one smart enough to dare and bring up such an idea. Suggesting rational solutions and helping the boys find a way by using his intellectuality, to create smoke, exhibits his insightful collaboration in order to get rescued. Another example that demonstrates Piggy is incisive is when he declares, “You have doctors for everything, even the inside of your mind. You don’t really mean that we got to be frightened all the time of nothing? Life…is scientific, that’s what it is.
A theme that arises around Piggy is the realists in the world are unheard when other people are overwhelmed by an inner evil. In the beginning, Piggy tries to make his name known but Ralph does not care and he calls him the one name he does not want to be called, which is Piggy. Piggy is seen as weak by the other boys because he is fat and has asthma. An example of Piggy being an unheard realist is when he is trying to get the attention of the boys and it is very hard when he finally gets their attention he tells them they need to build shelters and get rescued and points out that no one paid any attention to the ‘littluns’. Throughout the book, Piggy is a reminder of being rescued.
Piggy's overweight physique and glasses easily present him as an outcast to the other boys. His appearance made him an easy punchline for their cruel jokes. Piggy confides in Ralph hoping that the island will be a fresh start away from school bullies.
With Piggy and his conch gone, all order and sense are lost. He finds himself an outcast, alienated and isolated. In trying to come to terms with the outer world, he discovers the horrible inner self of man. Ralph weeps "for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart...
Lord of the Flies dates back to 1954 when a famous novelist, William Golding decided to write a book which could show an unusual version of the human beings. Born into an environment where his mother was a suffragette and later experiencing World War II where human ruthlessness was at its peak, made him better inclined in to writing a piece where he could explain his readers how human beings react in different situations. The setting of the novel depicts a situation where the human behavior is rational. The novel hence persuades the readers to realize the importance of ethics and civilization and how their absence can disrupt the society .Furthermore, the novel shows a negative aspect of the mankind and explains the reason it develops savagery