Piggy Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

The Specifically Symbolic Spectacles
William Golding wrote the Lord of the Flies to illustrate the issues of savagery and loss of civilization by using symbolism throughout the novel. Golding used Piggy and his spectacles as a symbol to represent the voice of reason and logic between the two conflicting societies. Piggy’s glasses were clean upon their arrival to the island, but as time progressed, they consequently became dirtier.
Piggy is introduced as the intellectually gifted “fat boy” who has physical and medical issues, which make it difficult for him to fit in with the other boys. His intelligence is constantly put down or interrupted because they are in a society where brilliance is disregarded. For example, when he said, “We could make a sundial. We could put a stick in the sand and then-” Ralph interrupted and the others continued to ramble (Golding 90). Piggy was the most mature on the island that defended the conch and insisted on a system of rule and order. The thought of civilization was not apparent to the boys, so Piggy’s ideas were pointless. The character, Piggy, simply represented the rational world.

His glasses were first shown how significant they are to him, and then the glasses became important to the entire group. The significance of the spectacles is evident from the beginning of the novel when the boys use the light of his glasses to start the signal fire. Near the end of the novel, Jack and his hunters raid Ralph’s camp in order to steal the glasses. When the glasses break, one more link to civilization was lost. “The chief led them, trotting steadily…From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (Golding 242). The broken glasses became a symbol of how far away the boys were from