Piggy Lord Of The Flies Essay

“A good heart and a good head are always a formidable combination.” (Brainyquote Hyperlink) This quote by Nelson Mandela relates to Piggy’s character of good morals and a good mind. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel detailing the lives of a group of British children and schoolboys who are living on an island after a plane crashes onto said island. This story takes place during the Cold War, in a theoretic scenario where it escalates much more than history records. In this book, each character has a distinct personality and most have a real-world, historical counterpart, and represents a virtue or alignment. For the character in question, Piggy, he represents wisdom, logic, and civilization, as well as the adults. Piggy is one of the more mature characters, more intellectual, and can be accredited to most ideas in this book. Piggy is one of the many reasons for the plot to have drama and climax, as well as progress.

One example of this would be using the conch, in the beginning of the book when Ralph and Piggy meet. “We can use this to call others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us.” (Golding 16) The reader can see that Piggy is innovative in his ideas and is working towards a good goal: Uniting everyone. Piggy’s ideas are needed later in the book, as well, such as when Ralph and his tribe, as it were, cannot reach the mountain to light a fire. “We got no fire on the mountain. But what’s wrong with a fire down here? A fire could be built on them rocks. On the sand, even. We’d make smoke just the same.” (129) Although simple, Piggy usually always has something to contribute, and it has a fair influence with Ralph because he accepts Piggy is, essentially, the smartest person on the island. However, not all of the boys accept Piggy for who he