Why Is Piggy A Static Character In Lord Of The Flies

The conch was first introduced when Ralph uses it to call an assembly. The boys created a rule stating that one may only speak if he holds the conch. This created order during assemblies. They used the conch to establish rules and responsibilities. The conch slowly fades, and chips. The boys stop responding to the conch and say that the rules of the conch do not apply to them. "...And the conch doesn't count at this end of the island-"(150) Eventually Roger finally breaks the conch as he drops the boulder on Piggy. "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." (181)The conch symbolizes power, government, order, and civilization. The conch symbolizes power

Piggy is a boy who is picked on as soon as he gets on the island. His weight makes him an easy target, and his lack of contribution to the group frustrates many of the boys. For the most part, he was protected by Ralph, the leader of the island. However, he becomes a casualty when Jack takes control of the island. After taking over, Jack and Ralph fight while Piggy stands off to the side, blind as a bat due to Jack stealing his glasses. In the middle of the altercation, a boulder is launched from a catapult-like contraption, hitting Piggy square in the face. Piggy’s “head opened up and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it had been killed” (Golding 181). This is the one quote where parents have some cause for concern, as the scene in which he dies is fairly graphic compared to others in the book. His dead body is described in some detail, and his killing is more purposeful and sadistic than the other acts of violence in the book, which are either for food or somewhat an accident. However, like Simon, Piggy’s death is more about what it symbolizes than the violence that actually caused it. Piggy is a symbol of wisdom, as he is mostly the voice of reason among the boys on the island. His death is the end of any notions of making a somewhat functional or intelligent society on the island. Also, his dead body being compared to

He always wants to help Ralph lead the group as chief, in Chapter 1, Piggy finds “a shell” that they use “to call the others…[to] a meeting” (Golding 16). His idea to use the conch helps him with his aesthetics need for order throughout the island because he “understand[s] and appreciate[s] beauty, balance, and form” (Maslow 6). Although, he has trouble succeeding with this because he is missing many of the lower levels on the pyramid. According to Maslow we “must meet [the] needs in order...and cannot be concerned with needs higher on the pyramid until” we meet the lower levels, and Piggy fails to receive the support required for his love and belonging desires.

The death of this unacclaimed leader heavily impacted the tone of the events to follow. Piggy was influential in many ways, but was highly underappreciated by many. His death in Chapter 11 greatly affected Ralph’s emotions. “And in the middle of them . with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (202). The Navy coming in Chapter 12 right after Piggy’s death is pessimistically placed by Golding. Unfortunately, Piggy was killed at a time where the boys were extremely savage and the Navy was close to finding the

The conch was described as magical, shining and beautiful in the story, now the way it is being described emphasizes how it's lost its power.

In William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, the reader comprehends symbols that go throughout the book. These symbols are key factors which determine the importance of the novel. The symbols are a very important part of the literary content. In order to really follow along and understand the story, the reader must understand these symbols for what they mean as well as how they are used. Some of the symbols include the conch, the island itself, and fire. Two of the main characters, Jack and Simon, represent other figures.

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. Piggy excitedly exclaimed, ‘“It’s ever so

He focused on the important things that would keep a civilized society like rules and guidelines. In the very beginning Piggy sought out to make a census before everyone ran to the mountain to create a fire. Unfortunately he couldn’t even complete his task before they lost a boy in the forest fire. “That little ‘un... him with a mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now (Golding 46)?” He reminds the boys that they need to think before they act otherwise bad things will happen, like losing boys. Piggy addresses the boys like he is an adult and they are the misbehaving children. He repeatedly says they are “Acting like a crowd of kids (Golding 38)!” “Like a pack of kids (Golding 45)!” Ralph even noticed Piggy’s voice of reason in chapter 7 when he was climbing the mountain “Now that his physical voice was silent his inner voice of reason was heard… Piggy was calling him a kid (Golding 122).” Piggy tries to explain to the boys that they need to act like adults to survive otherwise things will get out of hand. That’s why Piggy pushed the conch concept so much. Piggy’s favorite rule was whoever has the conch will be the only one to talk. Throughout the whole book he would scream “I have the conch (Golding 42, 45, 82, 90, 101, and 180)!” His last words included I have the conch. Piggy believed that with the conch he had a right to speak. Without the conch, Piggy still continued his voice of reason. When the beast terror was brought up, Piggy immediately turned the assumption down knowing a beast was not a scientific idea. “Life is scientific…. I know there isn’t no beast (Golding 82)!” He seconds Ralphs notions that a beast could not survive on an island this small. Using rational solutions, Piggy says it just doesn’t make sense to have a beast or ghosts on the island. Because he uses scientific views on how to be adults and to make sense of the beasts, Piggy is the voice of reason on the

There is a constant tension or conflict between good and evil in the world. At times evil appears to be so dominant and powerful that we may even think evil to be supreme. But, sooner or later the momentary supremacy of the evil gives way to the ultimate triumph of good. We often blame the society or the political system for the evils that are being perpetrated in the world. But a close analysis will tell us that it is not the political system or the society that is responsible for the evil, but some individuals within the society or in the political system that perpetrate evil. Therefore, it is the individual who needs to bring-forth the change in

Author, William Golding, in his novel, "Lord of the Flies," follows a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and try to govern themselves. One of the boys, Piggy, is constantly bullied and considered a nuisance by the power-hungry boys on the island. Golding's use of an isolated setting in the midst of the other boys illustrates Piggy's struggle to liberate himself from their oppression. However the need to survive reveals Piggy's inventiveness and rational mindset.

Piggy is fat, brilliant, lacking in social graces, and wears glasses, in other words the outsider on this island. Due to Piggy being such an foreigner, Jack feels that he is above Piggy, and feels better when he causes Piggy pain and sorrow. For example, “‘You’re talking too much,’ said Jack Merridew. ‘Shut up Fatty,’” (21). In this scene you can see power in Piggy’s lack thereof. It is obvious as to Jack’s power over Piggy, and Jack takes full control of this advantage. Jack even takes this far enough as to override the power of the conch, “‘I got the conch-’ Jack turned fiercely. ‘You shut up!’” (42). Brilliant Piggy is restricted from the power of the conch, showing just how little power he has, and how Jack’s quest for power has influenced the bystanding boys into being oblivious of the misdeeds towards Piggy. Piggy’s final moment of weakness falls at the end of the story, “Then the sea breathed out again in a long slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone,” (201). In this personification, and in Piggy’s death, you can still see power. Piggy’s death powers the chaos that ensues, Ralph’s savageness and hiding, and Jack’s craze for death, which ultimately ended in crying when they were rescued. Piggy supported the theme of power in his lack

The destruction of the conch occurred when the boys had fully lost their innocence and had turned “Savage.” The destruction of the conch took place after Jack decided to leave Ralph and start his own tribe on the other side of the island and coerced many of Ralph’s followers to join him, and this is when the demise of civilized thoughts and order really occurred. “... The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). The destruction of the conch ment the boys had returned to their primitive stages, in which civilization and order didn’t exist, only savagery existed. The conch was proof of the boys being civilized, and on the opposite side of the spectrum, the conch breaking was showing how they had lost all sense of civilization and have become completely savage. Not only did they break the conch but proof of them losing their state of being civilize is shown when Rodger purposely kills Piggy and no one but Ralph seems to care. “See? See? That’s what you’ll get!” (Golding 181). These words were spoken by Jack right after the death of Piggy, and it shows that he didn’t care about Piggy’s life, he only cared about having power and living prosperously in his own ideals.

Ralph’s realization of power shift, loss of innocence, and whom he considers a friend changed. He learned the effects of jealousy and fear that lead to murder and betrayal. Most of the boys betrayed him and joined Jack, teaching Ralph the lesson of who his friends are. He learned Piggy may look different, but in the end, he had the most loyalty and reason. Jack’s envy of Ralph led to his outburst his disrespect for the boys’ right of speech and the animals’ right to live. This turned him savage and impulsive. Piggy’s character was constant in the story. Piggy managed to keep his sanity, loyalty, and reason. Ralph and Jack were dynamic, because their characters developed; however, Jack grew for the worse. Piggy’s character was constant, so he was a static character. The reason Ralph was added to the story as a dynamic character was to show how leaders can be affected when someone overtakes them. The author included Jack to show that change is not always a good thing. Jack shows how bad feelings like jealousy can lead to impulsive behavior and numerous negative consequences. Piggy’s purpose is to show how dynamic other characters are. Piggy is like the controlled variable in an experiment. He shows no change in a situation to emphasize how different the change is in others. Golding has done an excellent job describing how characters in fiction relate to people in real life by using both static and dynamic

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?” (Golding 180). In Piggy’s mind, to have rules and order is important to live in a civilized world; this is the foundation of a society. Without them, you will be running around like a “[…] pack of kids” (Golding 45). With the conch, whoever is holding it has the fair chance to speak and state their opinion. It does not matter if he is overweight, your voice matters. Nearing the end of the book, when Jacks tribe raids ralph for Piggy’s glasses, Piggy runs for the conch and protects it while their being attacked. This shows just how much the conch matters to Piggy and being an adult- like person, it makes the island feel like

Throughout the novel “Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding, Piggy represents the good in society. Piggy was intelligent and knew right from wrong and used his reasoning skills before making decisions. William Golding expresses Piggy as someone who is not appreciated by the other boys. Golding is trying to show that when put on the island in a difficult situation we don’t act normally. People revert to savage tendencies and do things they may not have done in the outside world. Piggy stays the same throughout and does not change and Golding uses Piggy to represent how people should be.