How Is Piggy Innocent

The relationship between Ralph and Piggy shows that you need to be the best of the best to be able to compete in society.Piggy fulfills his purpose as a foil even though he isn’t as drastic a foil as Jack. Foils serve not only to make a character appear as either better or worse than they actually are, but to make said character more memorable in the minds of the

“High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” without the knowledge of his consequences in a mind of isolation, and kills a fellow boy named Piggy (Golding 180). In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a large group of boys are stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. The boys initially assume order and organization, but as time goes on their tie to society starts to fall apart. The boys start to practice savagery as they forget how life is like in a civilization. One of the boys named Jack is the leader of a “savage-tribe” that encourages hunting and killing. A member in Jack’s tribe named Roger is pressured by the savage-like ways around him to push a rock over a hill so that it would fall on another boy named Piggy. This kills Piggy as the rock knocks him over a cliff to his death. However, Roger is not guilty for Piggy’s death because

At the beginning of the novel, the boys were trying to start a fire. The boys then used Piggy’s specs to light the fire. “Ralph moved the lenses back and forth, this way and that, till a glossy white image of the declining sun lay on a piece of rotten wood”(40). Using Piggy’s specs to start the fire was a scientific method to create and it contributes to the fact he represents a scientific approach. Also, it was Piggy’s idea to make shelters so the boys could sleep in them for the night. “The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach”(45). By building shelters, the boys can sleep and stay dry when it's raining. This would also establish a settlement so they won’t have to continuously move to different areas of the island. Even though Jack’s tribe unknowingly murdered Simon, Piggy tried to keep the reason why they killed Simon rational. He tries to think that the death of Simon was justifiable. Ralph argued that the death was murder and Piggy complained “What good’re you doing talking like that”(172). Piggy is trying to find a formula that would explain Simon’s death. In other words, Piggy is one of the only characters in the novel who takes a scientific approach

Ralph being the main character of the book and always trying to find a way to get them off the island is the main good guy, and Piggy can almost be looked at like his sidekick. While Ralph was elected leader in the story he admits, to himself, that Piggy is smarter than him. Whenever Ralph freezes or is at a loss for words Piggy is there to remind him what he needs to say. He is the only person that never betrays Ralph even at the cost of his own life isn’t trying to join Jack’s side. Ralph is the main character and protagonist of the story, but he does have flaws. From the very beginning he never had the leadership skills to get everyone to work hard as a group. It almost seemed that as the story went on he didn’t become a better leader, but a worse one. He would always lose his train of thought while speaking to the group, and couldn’t make them feel safe. They were all afraid of the beast. What makes him the hero of the story, is that he never gives up on being rescued. He also doesn’t become a savage like the other children do. His mind is always on the fact that they need to get off the island, even when the others

Golding gives clear clues that Piggy is of a lower status than the rest of the boys on the island. When Piggy is introduced right after the plane crash, it is shown from the way he speaks that he did not have as good of an education as the rest of the boys. As he and Ralph discuss how to escape the island, he argues, “They’re all dead. . . Nobody don’t know we’re here. Your dad don’t know, nobody don’t know” (14). Piggy’s use of grammar implies that he was never educated to

When the group were discussing about the fire, Piggy says, “ ‘Cos the smoke's a signal and we can't be rescued if we don't have smoke” (173). Piggy is working to help out the boys by trying to inform them about their situation, and how they can fix it together. Piggy is the voice of reason out of all the boys by telling them how things will affect them as a group, and that is just like how the superego tells the ego on how the action will influence society. Piggy always wants what is best for the group, and wants them all to get off the island safely. When the group decided to move the fire from the mountain, Golding describes, “Piggy was so full of delight and expanding liberty in Jack's departure, so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society, that he helped to fetch wood” (129). Piggy wants to guide the boys on the right path of survival, and enjoys when he is able to help. His involvement in book by helping Ralph and the other boys is based on the focus of the superego to help the needs of society.

Piggy’s responsibility set him apart from the other boys, like Ralph. When Piggy cried out, “I don’t ask for my glasses back, not as a favour. I don’t ask you to be a sport, I’ll say, not because you’re strong, but because what’s right’s right” (190). For a moment, Piggy’s anger with unfairness and helplessness he felt took away from his logical reasoning but returned as soon as he was confronted by the savages. When Piggy asked, "Which is better- to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?"(200) it demonstrated a change in Piggy's nature. Piggy learned to stand up for himself against Jack and the savages. He was able to think clearly and plan ahead of his encounter with the savage boys. The cruelty Jack showed towards him taught Piggy how much more pain there was in the

First, in Lord Of The Flies, Golding uses the social relationships between each of the boys to tell us more about our own relationships. The first of these roles would be the one Piggy played. Throughout the novel Piggy dispenses intelligent ideas to the leader, Ralph, yet he was very rarely listened to. One example that appears on page 45, goes as follows,

In contrast, Jack represents the selfishness of the individual and the desire to have fun without regard for safety or the consequences to the group of not being rescued. All the boys have been raised in a society that has taught them right from wrong. Ralph and Piggy are attempting to maintain a sense of order and provide some of the elements of security for the group. Jack and the other boys that follow him are only participating actively in the hunt, and the pursuit of their own interests. In either circumstance, the boys involved are making a conscious choice. They are aware of their actions and although they may not fully understand the repercussions, they do understand that they are not following the direction given by their chosen

Their ignorance is evident when Ralph persuades the boys to accept his authority by claiming he wants to both survive and enjoy himself on the island: “This is what I thought. We want to have fun. And we want to be rescued” (p.37). But when he fails to prove such by prioritizing the fire, Jack uses it to his advantage when taking control, as seen when Ralph says to the remaining boys: “Sit down all of you. They raided us for fire. They 're having fun” (p.141), and when Jack attempts to recruit boys by saying: “Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?” (p.150). Jack uses the boys’ desire to have fun to gain support and popularity. Having fun is easy, careless, and freeing, which can often quickly turn into reckless and thoughtless. When they are given the choice choice to be free or listen to instruction, they choose the easiest and most appealing option, which does not include maintaining civil order. Piggy’s intelligence is also ignored by the boys such as when Piggy has the conch and claims he has the right to speak, but: “[The boys] looked at him with eyes that lacked interest in what they saw” (p.44). An overload of knowledge, like in Piggy’s case, can bore one’s audience and make people dread their appearance, and lead to mockery and chaos. Also, Piggy falls into the category of the stereotypical “nerd”. This is evident from the beginning: “He came

Piggy is incapable of completing physical undertakings. This, in turn, lowers Piggy 's chance of survival on the island. Piggy brings forth a suggestion to make a sundial clock. Ralph explains his feelings about Piggy’s ideas. “… his matter-of-fact ideas were dull…” (Golding 65). “Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labor” (Golding 65). Ralph exclaims the group doesn 't have the supplies for a sundial clock and thinks Piggy is uneducated. Ralph states Piggy just thinks of impractical ideas while he sits and does no physical labor. Piggy is different and does not blend in with the others, not only physically but he has a unique personality as well. Ralph wants complete control of the island. He wants to be in command of everything while he sits back and does nothing.

Piggy urges Ralph to use what power he has left by calling a meeting: “’What’s grown-ups going to say?’ cried Piggy again…The sound of mock hunting, hysterical laughter, and real terror came from the beach. ‘Blow the conch, Ralph...You got to be tough now. Make ‘em do what you want.’ Ralph answered in the cautious voice of one who rehearses a theorem. ‘If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued.’” In this situation, Piggy is still worried about the punishment of his previous life. He is the closest thing to an adult on the island, and Ralph is the only one who advocates listening to him, illustrating Ralph’s connection to the rules of traditional civilization, which the other boys despise and want to escape through the island. After showing blatant disregard to their “chief’s” rules, they decide to escape the constraints of Ralph’s assemblies and embrace their inner savagery with Jack. Piggy urges Ralph to blow the conch, the symbol of his power throughout the book, but Ralph understands that his form of leadership is becoming the less desirable option to the boys: if he calls an assembly and the other boys do not respond, its power, and his civilization, will have completely disintegrated. Ralph constantly emphasizes their responsibilities on the island—specifically, tending to the signal fire.

Piggy acts as a conscience when rumors of ghost and monsters are spread, and he ends the gossip by explaining ghosts are not logical or scientific, meaning they do not exist. Piggy uses his smarts to make sundials for the boys to keep track of the time, and with Ralph’s combination of leadership, the two boys begin to form what looks like the beginnings of a civilized camp. Civilization exists in the children, as they follow Ralph’s initial commands and help build the first shelter. They don not fully understand why they act civil, but their morals passed on by parents or self growth guide them during the first portion of the book. Golding uses the combination of Ralph and Piggy to show the roots of civilization, and the peace that morals bring, and the other boys to show the balance factor of feeling obligated to act civil. They use law as a protective companion, making rules for only speaking when holding the conch, to prevent yelling and fights. Jack even shows a civil side to his mind, when first establishing their camp, crying out, "We’ll have rules! Lot’s of rules!" (33) The fact that Golding would show that Jack, the symbol of savagery, has some civil thoughts, indicates that he is conveying the idea that civilization exists in even the most immoral people. Jack retains a sense of moral propriety and behavior that society leaves impressed on a person. Rodger, the

From this point on, the change in the leadership brings with it the transformation of the boys from ordered society to savages. Through the downfall of Ralph’s leadership and the resulting descent into savagery, Golding is able to reveal how the dark side of human nature can prevail. Golding’s character Piggy portrays the voice of reasoning and logic and his glasses symbolize his wisdom. Ralph recognizes Piggy’s ability to think with clarity and soon depends upon him in his role as leader. Piggy’s idea to use the conch to assemble all the survivors leads to Ralph’s election as leader. Ralph uses Piggy’s ideas for building shelter and Piggy’s glasses to ignite the signal fire. “Ralph moved the lenses back and forth, this way and that, till a glossy white image of the declining sun lay on a piece of the rotten wood” (30). Golding shows his pessimistic view of human nature as Piggy, whose ideas and logical thoughts have been so important to the

Golding marks Piggy with the distinction of being more intellectually mature than the others, branding him with a connection to a higher authority: At the very beginning of the story Piggy remarks to Ralph “ aren’t there any adults at all?” this shows his nervousness being in a situation without anyone to supervise or watch over the actions of the ‘ children.’ the outside world. It is because the superego is dependent on outside support that Piggy fares the worst out of the three major characters due to the