Piggy In Lord Of The Flies

Gruesome savagery and appalling barbarism are adjectives that could be used to describe William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, about youthful British boys that crash in a plane on a deserted island. The story is a twisted tale of how the boys fight, develop tribes, grow a hatred for the other, and eventually become atrocious savages. When summarizing the story, many people tend to include the two main characters, Jack and Ralph, but hardly anyone acknowledges of the importance of one specific character: Piggy. Piggy is smart, witty, responsible, and often has brilliant ideas; but, the boys on the island constantly disregard and taunt him. Two reasons the boys mock Piggy is because of his awkward appearance and his lack of authority and …show more content…
The way the boys treat Piggy and how they continually disregard and neglect Piggy’s complains about lack of authority shows how the boys are slipping farther and farther from civilization. Piggy consistently emphasized the importance of the conch, which stood for structure and organization. Without Piggy or the conch, the island would erupt into complete chaos. A rock forcefully shoved onto Piggy by Jack’s tribe resulted in the end of Piggy- and the end of all control. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of a man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” (Golding 202) The murder of Piggy by the fierce tribe also represented the end of reason and foreshadowed the blood-soaked and grisly brawl that would soon occur. These reasons are more are irrefutable proof that Golding uses Piggy to advance the novel’s themes and ultimately result in the concluding …show more content…
The themes are shown evidently through the way the boys treat Piggy; he has the brightest ideas but is repeatedly mocked and teased. Piggy is a social outcast who lacks confidence and courage; which gives the young men reasons to constantly harass and torment him. The way the boys treat Piggy shows their respect for authority and can show the theme of viciousness and ferocity. Golding also uses Piggy to develop themes through his death. When the tribe, who stood for barbarity, slaughtered Piggy, who stood for structure, it represented the collapse of civilization and foreshadowed the savage fighting that would take place. These are all legitimate reasons that explain why the boys treat the smart-minded Piggy the way they do and how Golding uses Piggy to develop and progress the novel’s

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