Piggy in "Lord of the Flies"

Throughout Lord of the Flies, Piggy is an important character, because he tries to do what's best for the boys, but he has no authority because the boys don't respect him. The boys all together became uncivilized. Piggy, stayed the same strict rules obsessed, serious boy. The difficulty is that Piggy couldn't understand the savagery in others, because Piggy was also rational and had an understanding of life. 'Aren't there any grownups at all?' Piggy noticed that he's the only one who was obsessed about grownups and that he was the closest to one.

Piggy's parents both had died and I think this is why Piggy wanted to act like such an adult. During the novel, we could see Piggy becoming a better person. Piggy tried to make Ralph feel better about their situation of being stranded on an island and we can see Piggy's loyalty and intelligence throughout the book. Golding is trying to say that there was good in everyone and that humans were tempted into evil because when humans don't have any consequences to their actions they tend to do bad things.

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Piggy was an overweight, asthmatic boy who was more mature than the other boys. When they first arrived on the island, Piggy suggested that they make a list of all the boy's names and hold some kind of meeting. He wanted to maintain some order, and he clearly wanted the boys to have the same kinds of structures as the kids would have known at home.

Piggy liked to think about what grown-ups would have done in there situation. "No. We are having a meeting. Come join" (20) Piggy said this to a boy who was asking what was going on. Piggy just called a meeting for all the boys on the island, so Ralph and he can learn all the boy's names. This shows Piggy was mature. He was thinking ahead on learning the names of the boys and how many there are just in case something bad happens. Also, he wanted to get to know them and make sure they are all okay.

In chapter 2, Piggy started a fire since his glasses were used to light all the flames. When Piggy's glasses are broken, it symbolically leads to the breaking of civilized society. When his glasses were stolen by the savages, he becomes completely blind and helpless. 'Give me my specs!' (41) Piggy begs the boys to return his glasses in chapter two during the fire at the top of the mountain. It foreshadows the importance of Piggy's glasses to the group's need for fire.

In the first few pages of the book, the boys run on the beach and swim in the ocean. Near the end, they are less like civilized people and more like savages, with multiple deaths. What brings about the idea of evil on the tropical island is the mention and the following fear of "the Beast". In the minds of the boys, this "Beast" is actually the savage monster trapped inside of them. 'We may stay here till we die.' (14) This quote brings fear to the island. Golding is showing how the boy's imaginations are creating a dangerous and evil environment.

Piggy is important in Lord of the Flies because his purpose is directly related to the main theme of the story: civilization and savagery. Although he wasn't able to make the concept of civilization permanent, Piggy spends the whole novel reminding the others who they were and how they were expected to behave.