Piggy's Maturity In Lord Of The Flies Essay

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies depicts the inevitable fall of civilization and organization through a group of school boys on an island. On the small island of which the children are stranded on, a form of civilization was formed, yet because of fear the boys disregard civil life and become brutal savages. As the isolated adolescents change from civility and sense to savagery and lack of rationality, Piggy serves as a scapegoat due to his maturity and knowledge which most of the other boys reject and punish him for.
From early in the novel, as the group of boys began to develop their “civilization”, Piggy’s knowledge is evident. Immediately after Ralph finds the conch and realizes it can produce a loud noise Piggy makes the connection that they “’can use [the shell] to call others. Have a meeting” and maybe “[the other …show more content…
After a fight arises over the beast’s reality, Piggy longs for grownups because “’They ain’t afraid of the dark. They’d meet and have tea and discuss. Then things ‘ud be all right—‘” (82). Maturity is exhibited in Piggy saying this due to his understanding of how adults peacefully settle disputes. Although Piggy cannot do this with the others, he recognizes that this method of problem solving is needed to resolve the boy’s arguments. Piggy later expresses his opinion that “’It’s [the others] that haven’t no common sense that make trouble on this island’” (117). Intuitively Piggy knows that had Jack and his hunters demonstrated rationality and patience, the separation and feud the boys faced would be nonexistent. Despite the growing conflict on the island Piggy explains to Ralph that “’[they] gust got to go on, that’s all. That’s what grownups would do’” (125). Once again, Piggy’s maturity is highlighted in saying that all they can do is continue doing the right thing, as if they were

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