Piggy Lord Of The Flies Essay

Since Piggy always makes excuses about his asthma he seems weaker and all together lazier. This puts Ralph in a favorable light of being a leader that tackles issues head on and actually gets things done.

Ralph represents order and discipline, while Jack represents an unhealthy drive for power and savagery. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is voted the leader of the group and attempts to make life on the island disciplined and civilized, like their life in England. However, throughout the novel Jack rivals Ralph’s leadership role, attempting to overthrow him. As the boys’ savage impulses increase, more of them begin to side with Jack instead of going with Ralph. As Ralph loses his hold over the boys, almost all of them begin to act violently and barbaric. An example of this is when the children of the island murder Simon for no justifiable reason. Even Piggy and Ralph partake in the murder, showing that the violent human impulse is in

When first introduced, Ralph is not interested in Piggy, who was not popular because he was fat. “He tried to be offhand and not too obviously uninterested, but the fat boy hurried

Ralph is a character whose actions make him represent democracy. In chapter 2, Ralph establishes a rule that whoever holds the conch may speak at the assembly. “That’s what this shell's called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”(31). By establishing this rule, Ralph planted the foundation of democracy for the boys. Later in the story, even though Jack draws most of the boys into savagery, Ralph still held onto the belief

By using their fear against the tribe, he makes them feel like Jack can protect them. Jack is very manipulative for that reason. Jack taunted Ralph into doing something with

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.

            Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief.  He carries this position until Jack and his fellow hunters break away

When Jack slaps Piggy and purposely breaks his glasses, Ralph calls it "A dirty trick." (p. 76) This shows Jack's selfishness and his failure to respect other people, while at the same time Ralph's concern is understand others. Ralph manages to treat each boy equally with his own form of control while Jack treats the boys, especially Piggy lower. After hunting, the group sits down to eat and Jack gives everyone a share except for Piggy. When Piggy asks for some, Jack says, "You didn't hunt." (p. 78) Neither Ralph or many of the littluns hunted but they still got their portion of meat. This was only being directed to Piggy. Jack's behavior towards Piggy shows that he is unable to understand other people. A good leader would have taken care of all his/her group. Ralph understands that he must treat everyone equal or he will not be respected and is a better leader than Jack because of this knowledge.

He is eventually chosen as leader on account of his many positive qualities. He maintains a conflict with Jack throughout the entire novel, trying to keep order while Jack isn't as dedicated to it. The next person you meet in the story is a short fat boy, who wears spectacles. He is the most intellectual boy on the island, but since he has no social skills, he is usually in the background trying to maintain the peace. Together Ralph and Piggy represent the struggle for order and democracy.

Many times throughout the book, Piggy is the voice of reason and helps to guide Ralph along that same road if he loses his way. After scolding Samneric for being pessimistic about their fate, Ralph momentarily forgets the reasons why the signal fire is so important. "He tried to remember. Smoke, he said, we want smoke. Course we have. Cos the smoke's a signal and we can't be rescued if we don't have smoke. I knew that! Shouted Ralph" (Golding 172). Ralph begins to lose his initial cheerfulness and enthusiasm and replaces it with disinterest and pessimism. Piggy and Ralph separate themselves from Jack and his tribe and continue to maintain their "government". However, when Jack and his tribe kill a pig and invite Ralph and Piggy to join their feast, the two accept and cannot resist the temptation of the meat. Later on in the celebration, Jack and his tribe perform a ritualistic dance, in which Piggy and Ralph later join. "Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society" (Golding 152). They realize that the dance fueled the boys to murder Simon, and later deny their participance in it. "We left early, said Piggy quickly, because we were tired" (Golding 158). Ralph and Piggy recognize the evil in the dance, and know that if the others found out about their participance in it, then the boys would claim that Piggy and Ralph would be

Secondly, Ralph is not only a rational leader but also a moral person, who cleverly keeps the fairness in his group. “Ralph, looking more understanding at Piggy, saw that he was hurt and crushed. He hovered between the two courses of apology or further insult ‘Better Piggy than Fatty” (25). Ralph is sincere and considerate for other people. He apparently understand their feeling and particularly shows his sympathy for Piggy. Ralph is sensible enough to realize that everyone deserves to be respected. He believes no one should have to put up with being tormented. Ralph gently gains others’ support by treating them equally, showing his compassion and ability to empathize with them. Opposite to Ralph, Jack is immoral, violent and condescending. “He’s going to beat Wilfred” (159). He does not care or understand the natural equality of

Could civilization live a normal and stable life, without any rules and orders to obey? Could you picture, New York City, with no laws to follow and everyone doing as they please? Just imagine the disasters that we will experience. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, we see how each individual character reacts differently to the exposure of complete freedom from an organized society. Also, awe see how this separation from a structural society causes chaos among all these different characters.

In the beginning of the book Ralph is treated as an equal by the other boys due to his personality. '"He's not Fatty, cried Ralph, his real name's Piggy... a storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in'" (21). Ralph's personality is very similar to the others' because when he he acts immature the boys all feel that it's funny instead of telling him he's wrong and that he should apologize. Just after they laugh at what he has to say they are accepting him into the group. In the beginning of the book Piggy is outlasted because of his personality. '"'I was with him when he found the conch. I was with no. Before anyone else was.' Jack and the others paid no attention'" (24). Piggy's personality here comes off as persistent and, seeing as jack wasn't really persistent on being the chief his personality doesn't match up with him. When they don't allow Piggy to come along with them they are out casting him because, they don't understand his persistence because they never have experienced it. Piggy instead of coming across as want to help and just being persistent comes off as being pushy and annoying. In the middle of the book Ralph is becoming divergent from the group. "'That's dirty!' Laughter rose again...'" (80). Ralph has shown that he has finally grown up and he's starting to act like it as well. Just after

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.

Jack’s departure from the boys sparks a civil war in between them and ultimately creating a giant war that lead to death of some of the boys. Jacks uprising or rebellion is hinted early in the book but he shows his true side leaving Ralph’s group. This action by jack creates the events of piggy and simons death but creates the reason they are rescued. Jacks new aggression embodies war and destruction itself and is a monster. When jack breaks out against Ralph he not only defeats him but he shows that Ralph is weak eventually taking everyone Ralph has by torture or death.