Dear Auntie, It 's Me, Piggy

Even Jack respects the conch. After he fails to stage a coup, he "laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet" (183)

Piggy lectured them by asking how they could "…expect to be rescued if [they] don't put first things first and act proper?" (45), which is something they did not want to hear, this was proven time and time again when the boys not let him speak without interruption even when he had the conch shell. Piggy's greatest asset was also his weakest point; the only way he could relate to the other boys was at an intellectual level, whereas the other boys could only relate on an emotional level. Ironically, in spite of his intelligence and logic, rational thought, from the beginning of the novel, Piggy was a social outcast.

Piggy’s physical appearance contributes to his position as an outsider within the society of boys. When Piggy and Ralph first meet, Ralph remarks on Piggy’s shortness of breath to which Piggy responds, ¨ That’s right. Can’t catch my breath. I was the only boy in our school what had asthma, said the fat boy with a touch of pride, ‘And I’ve been wearing specs since I was three¨ (Golding 9). This quote describes Piggy as a fat boy with asthma and glasses, while the other boys are skinny and do not share any of the same characteristics as him. In addition, the author contributes to the outcasting Piggy by never revealing his real name and only describing Piggy as the “fat boy.” This proves that in this society, Piggy is not worth getting to

Jack, one of the lead characters in the novel, alludes to the biblical figure Judas for his betrayal to the good of the people brought forth by Jesus. Jack is the reason Simon is killed, for he betrayed Ralph’s rules and brought forth the evil within the children’s minds. Jack refuses Ralph’s ideas and regulations in trade for fun and hunting. This shows his betrayal to the good of man and his want to bring evil forth to the island.

Piggy in The Lord of the Flies was a very smart, yet unheard, voice. He was a friend to Ralph, and if listened, to he probably would have changed the outcome of the book. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy can be seen as an outcast in three different ways. The first way was that he was never able to talk. He was never given attention, and had to demand attention even with the conch. The next way was how he was excluded from physical activities because of his “ass-mar”. The final way is how unimportant he was as a person compared to how important his belongings and ideas are.

This reminds Jack and Ralph that there is a chance that the beast is real and there may be reason for all the fear.  It also reveals that Simon's character is very much in touch with reality. He is not trying to push the fact that a beast could be on the island away from him.  He is trying to deal with his fear and show the others that they can and should deal with theirs.

As Jack starts to form his own group, we see even more people straying from the belief of civilization, the belief that order is even necessary. Golding writes “[Jack] And the conch doesn’t count on this end of the island”(150). This phrase suggests that the hunters have already abandoned their previous ideals and instead turned to instant gratification rather than stability and safety. They now achieve a feeling of security by hunting and killing aimlessly instead of clinging to reminders of the outside world, such as the huts and meetings . Therefore, they are not affected by their old ideals of civilization, represented by the conch, and do not need the conch because they have already lost their ties with civilization, making the conch almost powerless. This passage implies that when the ideas represented by an object become obsolete, the object’s power is lost. This proves that it is only the representation and people behind that object that makes it

He always questions the power of the conch and Ralph, saying that the conch rule does not matter on certain parts of the island, his part of the island. The part that the savages control. Yet he uses the conch to his advantage when possible, for example when he calls his own assembly to talk about Ralph not being chief. For him, the conch represents the rules and boundaries that have kept him from acting on the impulses to dominate others. Their entire lives in the other world, the boys had been used to the rules set by society against physical aggression. On the island, however, that social standard is not there and they need to be adults and set the rules. Jack has no one to tell him his behavior is bad. He quickly loses interest in that world of politeness and boundaries, which is why he feels no need to keep the fire going or attend to any of the other responsibilities that would help the entire group. His desire for power takes over his common sense and

The conch was used to call meetings and whosoever held it, had the power to speak. Jack starts to disobey the conch because he is turning more and more savage-like. “[T]hey closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink,” thought Jack. As the story progresses, Jack realizes he wants to kill pigs, not keep fires going for rescue. Jack shouted, “We don’t need the conch anymore.” At this point in the novel, Golding is showing the reader that because Jack is lusting for power, he is turning into a ferocious monster. By turning into a savage, he has lost all sense of civilization and democracy.

The side supporting that Jack was responsible for the deaths of Piggy and Simon presented the better argument. Tristin, the attorney for Piggy and Simon, supported his case with additional examples from the text and interrogated more witnesses with a variety of issues. For instance, while Piggy and Simon’s attorney was questioning Jack, Tristin asked, “Why did you egg on the attack against Simon?”. Jack replied that he was not alone in the violence toward Simon, and many other boys participated in the murder. However, many of the witnesses stated that Jack was the first to show his savageness and ordered his followers around. Jack started the ritual that killed Simon and promoted the turmoil, boisterous partying, and sadism. Furthermore, some

He is the lead of the hunters. His job is to provide members meats. Contrast with Ralph, Jack is violent. He focuses on killing instead of getting rescued. When Jack hunts the pig, he will proudly say: “Kill the pig, cut her throat, spill the blood” (69). The quote showed he did not have mercy and he is changing from decent to savagery. Like Adolf Hitler, he is political allegory. He often disregard Ralph’s rule and tries to invalidate the power of the conch on part of island by saying “The conch does not work on the mountain, only at the beach.” (38). His bad temper and savagery will later cause the death of Piggy and Simon.

The conch loses its power to Jack and all that symbolises rule by force. As mentioned before, Jack openly disregards the conch and the power it gives. Because of this event, we can see that the conch is starting to lose its power. In addition, Jack does not care for the conch even if he can have it. We see this when Jack

Ralph and Piggy believe that Jack and his tribe are after the conch, and leave it behind when they go to see what is going on at the other side of the island. Jack then begins to signal to the audience and the boys that the conch is now useless. It is has no meaning to anyone on the island, specifically his tribe. He indicates this statement by saying, “ You left it behind… and the conch doesn’t count on this side of the island-”(150).This passage from the novel exemplifies how the boys have lost their sense of command and order within one another. The message from the statement made by Jack is guiding the reader to see how each boy is transforming into a more ruthless individual, not caring about any rules or individuals in their lives. With author, William Golding, having the conch’s purpose be lost and forgotten begins to exhibit the children’s loss of reason within one another.

But this democratic society does not last very long as the children (especially Jack) have a lack of respect and interest for the conch and the rules. We can see this happen when Jack says, “We don’t need the conch anymore, and we know who should say things.” As the conch represents democracy we can see that civilization on the island is crumbling and savagery is starting to take over.

Jack's unwillingness to acknowledge the conch as the source of centrality on the island and Ralph as the seat of power is consistent with the portrayal of his self-importance. Jack's lack of compassion for nature, for others, and ultimately for himself is evidenced in his needless hunting. This is proved by his role in the brutal murders of Simon and Piggy, and finally in his burning of the entire island, even at the cost of his owns life. In much the same way, Piggy's demeanor and very character links him to the superego, the conscience factor in Freud's model of the psyche.