How Is Piggy Presented In Lord Of The Flies

By the end of the novel Piggy has perished while Ralph survives to be rescued. Even this puts Ralph in a good light because it shows he was smart and resilient enough to survive on an island full of savages. If Piggy-with all his disadvantages- were to survive it would only serve to undermine the effort Ralph put into survive. In Ralph’s civilized society and the insane society of Jack, a weak person like Piggy can't make themselves known without consequences. This is similar to

"Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that 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 labour." (Golding 68)

A philosopher named Peter Singer once said, “All the arguments to prove man’s superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering animals are our equals.” Human beings always look for ways to make themselves feel superior to one another. Whether it be by looking down upon those whose come from different backgrounds, or feeling superior because they are part of a privileged group of people, it is natural for humans to disdain the inferior and place themselves on a higher social level. Children will often scorn others for things such as status, but how far can immature teasing lead them? This idea of power imbalance is exemplified in William Golding's novel, Lord of The Flies, where we see young boys look down upon each other based on their status before they were isolated from the rest of the world. Golding describes Jack, Ralph, and Piggy in a way that establishes that each boy represents some class in society, which affects their decisions and the overall outcome of their stay on the island.

"'I don't care what you call me so long as...it's not what they used to call me in school...They used to call me Piggy!'" Chapter 1, pg. 11. Then Ralph told the whole group and they started teasing Piggy. Everyone took it as a given that Piggy was the smart, nerdy and fat person in the group.

for Ralph to act out. "We can use this (the conch) to call the others.

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

He is often subject to harassment because of his weight. When taking roll call, Ralph introduces him as Piggy, so that “ a storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in” (Golding 14). As shown by this quote, even the youngest boys think they are better than Piggy because they aren’t chubby like him. He is much heavier than the other boys, which is one of the factors that sets him apart. He is never even given a chance to introduce himself; he is just given a nickname that exploits his weight. After this, Piggy never even tries to properly introduce himself. He knows that whatever name he gives will be rejected by the boys who view themselves as superior to him. Those who are isolated are also commonly made victims of. Once his tribe abandons him, Ralph is warned by Samneric about Roger and Jack. Eric says “‘They hate you, Ralph. They're going to do you. They're going to hunt you tomorrow”” (170). At this time, Ralph is considerably weaker than he was at the beginning of the story. He has no tribe to protect him, aside from a few littluns. Piggy and Simon are both dead, and Samneric now are joined with Jack’s tribe. Because of this, Jack can more easily target and kill Ralph.

     Piggy in the beginning of the book was using his common sense, he was intelligent, he knew what was right from wrong, and he could condone things that made him angry easily. In the beginning of the book, (pg. ) Ralph told everyone his name was Piggy even though Piggy specifically told Ralph that he didn't like to be called that name Piggy later condoned Ralph's action with great ease. Piggy's action's and behavior depended on his glasses. Piggy and his glasses symbolized intelligence, he represents the rational side of civilization. With the glasses it seemed as though Piggy made all the right choices, and he helped Ralph know what needed to be done with the tribe. Without his

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

us how Piggy is sectioned from the est of the group due to his social

Lord Of The Flies Essay    The novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding is an adventure of survival and a test of strength and maturity, where a group of boys become stranded on an island and are forced to protect themselves. An important character in the novel is Piggy, he is portrayed to be short, overweight and is recognized as the most physically vulnerable of all the boys. Three incidents that accurately reveal Piggy's true character in the novel include; when he is watching Ralph swim, when he comes up with the idea of the conch; and when Piggy is disrespected by the other boys.       

In situations of disaster, chaos, or stress, some people recount the feeling that they lost “part of who they were” during the incident. Some people describe that “they will not be able to see the world the same again.” In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of boys gets thrown into this somewhat cliché, depressing situation of being stranded on an island. This situation arises stress, fear, and madness among the boys. This causes several characters in the book to experience a loss of their character throughout the book that leads to the creation of a new individual for each boy.

In large groups, the strongest person is often turned to for guidance and leadership. However, this is not always the best choice. In William Golding’s 1954 novel, The Lord Of The Flies, the character who consistently showed the best leadership qualities was Piggy. Piggy was patient, intelligent, and civilized. Without his ideas and intelligence, the group would not have been able to survive for as long as they did.

Society does not think intelligence is important, and is generally felt to be unneeded. In his Novel, Lord of the flies, William Golding uses symbolism to prove that society disrespects intelligence. In society intelligence is down played to be unnecessary. The people who represent intelligence are bullied and feel weak. In the novel the character Piggy represents intelligence and Jack is the character who most disrespects intelligence.

We all have a mental perception of Lord of The Flies, but to feel within the book as you read adds a whole new view. As I began to read I noticed the great effect Piggy wanted make, his focus and mentality was quite strong compared to the others. I truly feel as if he was the most impactful person within this book when it’d come to decision making. Piggy gave off a vision of clear thinking and tranquility much like MLK Jr. In the book, it constantly expresses that Piggy’s glasses represent clear thinking and as the society on the island began to crumble it was directly correlated alongside Piggy’s knowledge and passive effect dissolving.