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Piggy And Jack In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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Piggy and Jack cannot get along because of their clashing, yet similar, types of intelligence. Piggy is classified as the intelligent character, thinking everything through carefully and efficiently. Where Jack is smart in a manipulative way, and gained power by persuading and tricking the boys on the island to be their leader. Piggy’s intelligence can be seen through his rational ideas. For example, Piggy recommends to use the conch to control the boys: “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us.” The “meeting” that Piggy calls shows his desire to create a civil environment on the island. Piggy has smart ideas that influenced everyone in a positive way. Jack, however, has an opposite type of intelligence, …show more content…

From the start of the book, Piggy is described as a restricted character. He is limited by both physical and mental confinements. At his first description, Piggy explains how he can’t run, “on account of (his) asthma.” (5) From this characteristic of Piggy, it limits his leadership. Most good leaders have no restrictions, even from physical health; they are strong both physically and mentally. Piggy is also not mentally cut out to be leader. When Jack is introduced, Piggy is described as being “intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice.” (13) Piggy is daunted by the strong authority shown in others, which is not a quality a good leader possesses. Unlike Piggy, Jack gained power at one point on the island, but like Piggy, he always lacked strong leadership. Jack is an impulsive character, which is ultimately bad for everyone on the island. Given his crave for hunting, it is easy to understand that Jack puts his main focus into killing, rather than surviving. “Jack drew his knife again with a flourish,” (23) Jack has a “compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up.” (42) A good leader is confident and strong, and they think ahead, taking into account every problem. Jack and Piggy both wanted a high position in the hierarchy, but ultimately both can not reach that due to their lack of good leadership. This similarity sets the boys up

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