Intelligence And Power In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

A recurring theme among leaders in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (John Acton, a 1700’s English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership, power, and corruption is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forces his way into the leadership position without actually earning it. It is clear that Jack has become corrupt as he turns into a person who is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph, on the other hand, is a quality leader under most conditions as he appeals to the boys’ sophisticated side and has a

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.

wrote this after publishing Lord of the Flies. It is our world, in the form of a story. The two leaders in the story are Ralph and Jack. Ralph starts off a comfortable leader of the boys, but by the end of the book, Ralph and his companion Piggy are alone facing Jack and the rest of the boys. As the novel progresses and the society on the island starts to change, so does Ralph. He begins thinking he has all the answers, but comes to realize that without Piggy he would have never gotten this far. By the end of the book, Ralph and Jack are complete opposites. Jack is about savagery and fun while Ralph is holding on to society, rules, and civilization. Appearing to be a weak leader due to defection of his followers, Ralph is actually dedicated and insightful, only loosing his followers because he could not compete with one category that attracts nearly everyone in the world: fun.

From the beginning of the book, Piggy is represented as a realist and pragmatic character. The boys are stranded on the island with no adults, yet throughout the book, Piggy acts as an adult. Everything Piggy does is well thought out, and logical. He is the ‘brains behind the operation’. We see this throughout the book. clearly, Piggy is a static character. Piggy continues to have faith in technology and uses his brains to help everyone, and that’s how he is from beginning to end.

He also tells Ralph how to use the conch from when he saw it before. Piggy initially discovers the conch. The conch was at the bottom of the lagoon. Piggy suggests that Ralph uses it to call the boys. Throughout the novel piggy was very smart but was overlooked. Throughout the novel he represented a meritocracy.

Most people try, fail, and never try again, but not because of their capabilities but because of their personality. Piggy has great capabilities as well as a great personality, but throughout the novel, he has never really gotten the chance to reveal his great potential. Piggy is more logical and innovative than most of the boys stranded on that island. Unlike the other school boys, Piggy thinks practically about their situation and tries to reason with it as well as resolving it. On page 34, Piggy points out that no one knows where the boys are nor that a crash had happened by saying “Who knows we’re here?

To be a great leader you have to be intelligent and that is Piggy’s strongest quality. Piggy demonstrates his intelligence in various times throughout the novel. One of the events is with moving the fire. Everyone was terrified of “the beast” that was on the top of the mountain near the fire. The boys gave up but piggy stayed determined he suggest they move the fire by the campsite. He also recognizes that the conch can be used to form unity and organization. Piggy knows

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.

Piggy, though not the most memorable in The Lord of the Flies, resonated the most whilst reading this book. Piggy is the stereotypical nerdy kid who seems to be perpetually bullied, even when he is on a deserted island. He has pinkish skin with glasses and asthma with a belly that ate perhaps too much candy from his aunt’s candy shop. While Piggy is almost useless physically, he is very strong mentally, and proves this when he formulates the idea of the conch, but is too weak to blow into it and call everyone. Piggy seems socially awkward, as if he hasn’t spent much times with his fellow peers and rather passed the time with the adults in this life. We see this when Piggy frequently parrots his aunt’s advice such as “My auntie told me not to run… on account of my

It may have taken millions of years for humans to evolve enough to create the sprawling civilizations known today, but it only takes a few months for a group of civil, educated boys to regress back into savagery. In his novel Lord of the Flies, author William Golding depicts a group of young British boys getting stranded on a deserted island sans adults. The boys must look out for themselves, forming a basic governing system and trying to survive. But the challenge soon proves too much to handle, and order deteriorates. William Golding conveys the universal theme of civilization vs. savagery in his novel Lord of the Flies using the literary elements of plot, setting, and characterization.

Having such a divers array of people living in such close proximity, and not being able to escape one another also influenced the attitudes, and actions of the boys. In normal circumstances, when two people don’t get along it is relatively easy to not be around them, and hang around with others in which your more compatible with. However due to the fact that they are on a rather small island, and that their society only consists of a few people, it is not so easy for rare intellectual to escape people with ideals opposite to their own. Therefore often suffers defeat. This is very true in the case of Piggy.

Over time there have been many leaders of countries, groups and societies that are believed to be the “best” or what someone could only dream of. However what if a perfect leader doesn’t exist? In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Ralph’s sense of leadership declines throughout the novel. So what if he doesn’t actually possess the skills the boys had hoped he for.

Piggy demonstrates the benefits of of intelligence-maintained civil order on the island because it increases the boys’ chances of survival and reminds the boys of civility. Piggy brings new and resourceful ideas to the table, which give the boys a better chance of survival while on the island. The

First, Piggy lacks what a necessary trait in any successful leader: charisma. He is socially awkward, and he has a hard time fitting in with the other boys his age. The boys have a hard time seeing anyone other than an overweight boy with big "specs". Piggy is also intellectually superior to the other boys. He has the rationale of an adult and is easily able to see the difference between what the boys should be doing and what they shouldn't be doing.

Although Piggy remained physically challenged due to his asthma, his lack of skills, his weak eyesight, and his round structure, he possessed, intellect, rationality, and a kind heart. With his intelligence, he helped by stressing the importance of the need for shelter, advocated Ralph’s idea of the fire, cared for the “littluns”, and motivated the community with hopeful, caring words.