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Changes in the character of the Lord of the Flies
Characterisation of lord of the flies
Characterisation of lord of the flies
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Throughout Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, Piggy portrays a loyal, reasonable and dependent character. “The fat kid” is the prime example of someone who gets neglected even when using his high intellect to see the whole picture of hard situations . As the story develops, Piggy experiences lack of friendship and respect, due to the way he looks. Through the book,Piggy and Ralph held their own strong opinions, civilised manners and stayed civil while most the others became savage. Piggy, always had Ralph’s back and,was loyal in many ways supporting, “we just got to go on, that’s all. That’s what grownups would do”(Golding 139). At the moment, everything is falling apart, piggy learns to thinking like a grown up to try holding the responsibility
of their roles. Piggy also stays with Ralph even when everyone else leaves Ralph for Jack. Piggy is the type of friend who will always show you endless love, loyalty and respect. Piggy was depicted as the fat, nerdy kid and as a “follower”, however, he had a great voice of reason and wisdom. He is significantly overlooked and unappreciated as a leader. Due to his looks ,everyone believed that “[he’s] not good on a job” such as being a leader or making strategic decisions (Golding 24). Piggy was judged by his cover and the boys purposely excluding him by using hurtful words such as”we don’t want you” on the island.(Golding 24). Piggy’s logical ideas for the survival of a civilization were neglected and he was only used deemed worthy because his glasses could start fresh fires. Due to the loss of his parents at an early age , sensitivity brews within Piggy. He was raised by his aunt who gave him everything he asked for. Although piggy is very loyal, he is also very dependant on Ralph, the conch, rules and order and his glasses. “Piggy’s broken glasses” not only impairs him, but, causes him to lack strength and the skills he needs for survival. Unable to face challenges , he will ”have to be led” by Ralph, everywhere Ralph goes, Piggy will have to follow (Golding 168)(Golding 172). Piggy is physically dependent on ralph but also emotionally dependent as well. All over the book, Piggy uses Ralph for validation and being deemed as worthy. Constantly getting bullied is very tough, but there's always an outcome either positively or negatively. In the end, the fat kid is usually one of the first targeted deaths, even though Piggy was full of innocence and causing no harm to the boys. Piggy’s loyalty, the conch, and his glasses could not lead him to his end goal, no matter how badly he wanted peace amongst the island.
From reading this chapter,so far I believe that Ralph’s attitude towards Piggy is Ralph thinks he is a nuisance but later on believes he’s more useful in life. For example when they knew when they had the conch how many funny noises they can make. Piggy then realized how much Ralph was being nice and how much he grew on him. My first part of evidence I found was they realized how much they needed each other and they knew somehow they will learn to get along. My evidence fits well because they both read and judged each other on the outside and how they looked and acted. They assumed a lot of things about each other, they both didn't get a chance to explain what they were doing and how they were doing it.
In the beginning of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Piggy is seen as a weak and cowardly character, allowing the boys to walk over him. Throughout the book, he becomes more confident. For example, one instance where Piggy is seen as insecure is at the first meeting on the island. Piggy tells Ralph, another fellow survivor, that he doesn’t want anybody to call him Piggy. Later, after using a conch to summon the boys to the area, Ralph reveals Piggy’s name. Instead of insisting that Piggy is not what he wanted to be called, the book states that “he went very pink, bowed his head, and cleaned his glasses again” (Golding 21). This change is negative because Piggy is them to call him by this name he didn’t want.
Piggy's literal function in this novel is to be the intellectual and logical thinker to counteract the emotional thinking of the other boys. From the beginning, Piggy viewed everything logically. He quickly came to the realization that the boys may be on the island for a long time, when he told Ralph "Nobody don't know we're here. Your dad don't know, nobody don't know" (9), contrary to Ralph's assumption that his father, who happened to be a naval officer, would simply come and rescue them. While Ralph became the natural leader based on his charisma, "what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy" (18/19). However, it is unfortunate that this intelligence eventually led Piggy to his demise. Piggy's direct way of analyzing a situation and voicing his opinion tended to make him quite un...
...Although, it can be argued that he had no one else to turn to so he went to Piggy, Ralph could have given up at this point. But, instead he finally consulted Piggy for advice, displaying his maturity. In the end of the novel, when Piggy dies, Ralph addresses the loss. When the naval officer arrives, “Ralph wept for… the fall through of the true, wise friend Piggy” (202). Ralph truly matures at the end when he values the intelligence, and good heartedness of his friend Piggy finally looking past his appearance.
( Golding, 87) When everyone else was afraid, he just thought that " if there's something wrong, there's someone to put it right". ( Golding 87) This shows that Piggy was levelheaded and he knew that the only thing to fear on the island were themselves. This is like he knew that the cause of breakdown in the society would be from themselves. While piggy and Ralph were able to keep order almost successfully, others would leave because they were in to not having rules and just having fun without actual work and effort being put in to help them along. Ralph says, "Piggy, are you the only one left? No there's Samn'Eric." This is later in the book and it shows how people are able to ignore the rules. Only the moral and honest people stayed with Ralph and Piggy To try and be saved. The rest were bloodthirsty savages and left with Jack to hunt and Kill. Piggy also really respected Ralph. When Ralph was upset with the "accident" that happened with Simon, Piggy knew that even though Ralph was doing wrong things, he would work things out. Piggy helps to show how unnecessary it is to dwell on these matters saying "What good're you doing talking like that". (Golding, 156) Piggy knew no one would listen to himself, so he
Piggy is mentally resilient; he has the ability to think things through with the clear mind even during times of crisis. He is the true voice of reason. “‘I got the conch! Just you listen! The first thing we ought to have made was the shelters down there by the beach…But the first time Ralph says ‘fire’ you goes howling and screaming up this mountain. Like a pack of kids!’” (Golding 45). Piggy has the capability to let his voice of reason run unbridled because he tends to think before he leaps. Because of this, he is able to vocalize his morals proudly and never stray from his own beliefs.
In the novel, Piggy represents intelligence and rationality because of how he thoroughly thinks through all situations that he faces and due to his exceptional ability to create simple solutions to any problem. At very beginning of the novel, shortly after emerging from the wreckage of the crashed plane, Piggy and Ralph first meet each other. As the pair walk along the beach, Ralph finds a conch, which gives Piggy the idea of using the conch to “‘call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us’” (Golding 16). Even after the initial shock of crash-landing on a presumably deserted island, Piggy is able to gather his wits and realize that their best chance of survival to gather all the boys and get some kind of organization established. Although Ralph found the conch initially, he was only attracted to it because it looked like “a worthy plaything” (16). Piggy however, unlike Ralph, immediately thought up a novel idea of how to use the conch to better their situation, by using it to gather everyone else, and to assess the overall predicament they found themselves in. Piggy was focused on long-term survival and sustainability rather than the short-term entertainment that the conch presented. People who have high levels of intelligence often possess extremely rational thinking methods. The Beast had begun to terrorize the mountain, particularly in the vicinity ...
Both Piggy and Ralph’s personalities had a large amount of contrasts that determined their relationship at the beginning of the story. Piggy was the outcast, due to his large awkward body, his thick glasses and his know-it-all personality. While Ralph on the other hand was the stereotypical image of an ordinary boy. Piggy had no friends, besides those that he lived with. Thus was not used to being among other children. He quickly trusted, and latched onto Ralph, ignoring Ralph’s constant teasing . Ralph was insecure as all boys his age are, he didn’t really want to be caught liking the outcast so he teased him. “I don’t care what they call me, so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school…They used to call me Piggy'; (Golding: pg.11) Piggy confided to Ralph, asking him to be secretive, thinking that Ralph was his friend. When really he couldn’t care less about Piggy’s fate. Ralph betrayed Piggy by announcing to all the other boys Piggy’s name, not really caring about the consequences it would have on Piggy and Ralph’s friendship. Piggy is hurt but quickly forgives and forgets, thinking that him and Ralph are friends. Ralph doesn’t really mind Piggy’s dependence upon him, but finds Piggy to be a bore and does not consider him to be a friend. “Piggy was a bore; his fat, his ass-mar and his matter of fact ideas were dull, but their was always a little pleasure to be got out of pulling his leg, even if one did this by accident'; (Golding: pg.65). Ralph joined the others in teasing him, especially about his asthma and his love and dependence upon his auntie.
At the beginning, clearly Ralph feels that Jack is an ally, a companion; not a rival for leadership, "Ralph found himself alone on a limb with Jack and they grinned at each other ... that strange invisible light of friendship". The chosen leader of the group, Ralph tried to lead the stranded boys into some kind of order. The authority of Jack and the sensibility of Piggy easily sway him. When Ralph first meets Piggy, he sees him as a lower person who should be ridiculed. He starts off by asking for his name and he is told that people used to make fun of
-Piggy is still hanging on to the slim amount of civilization left, as he forces Ralph to blow the conch even though there are only four boys left, proven when he says, “It’s all we got.” This shows that although ineffective, calling an assembly with order and talking in turn still comforts Piggy, and ultimately shows that he is still civilized.
They continue walking and Ralph spots a shell. That Piggy explained it’s so expensive and fragile. Piggy came up with the idea of using the shell to attract others attention. He says, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us- (Golding 16).” If it wasn’t for Piggy’s brilliant idea the boy’s would've never had a meeting to meet each other and have a start to a plan where they can possibly be rescued. However Ralph doesn’t keep his word that he wouldn’t say anything. Ralph said “He’s not Fatty, his real name is Piggy (Golding 21).” Then everyone starts to laugh and he makes Piggy feel bad. Ralph’s feelings towards Piggy change in a matter of seconds, just to fit in with the crowd. Although Piggy was treated bad by Ralph, he still voted for him to be chief. Later on, since Ralph was
In the beginning of Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, one of the main characters, Piggy suffers from low self-esteem and low self-confidence. This can be seen on page 11 when Piggy says “I don't care what they call me, so long as they don't call me what they used to call me at school...They used to call me Piggy,” (Golding 11). This quote shows his low self-confidence and gives the reader a glance into Piggy’s past. The reader can assume from the quote that Piggy was made fun of for his weight before he came to the island and does not want to be treated like this again. Piggy seems scared that the new boys will tease him. Another example of Piggy’s low value of himself is when he begins to show leader ship qualities and is shot down. “I expect we...
Piggy’s courage at the beginning of the book was horrible, and he didn’t know how to stand up for himself. At the end of the book Piggy had more confidence and could stand up to the other boys, and didn’t let the other boys walk all over him. There are a ton of examples on how Piggy stands up for himself, and shows how confident that he is. Ralph had great courage at the beginning of the book, and at the end he started being mean and the other boys stopped talking to him. Ralph took on the responsibility of being the adult, and being a leader so he had to show courage. Ralph started losing courage because all of his tribe joined Jack left him behind. Jack could offer the tribal meat to eat, so the wanted to join him. Ralph also got food for them but it was just berries, and fruit. Ralph was confident that when Jack left he would come back, and try to make things right again. That’s when the boys started to leave one by one to join Jack’s tribe. In conclusion to this story it just shows that you never know when you will need certain things to survive. Piggy and Ralph are alike and different in so many ways. By seeing how different the two characters are make me realize how different people can really be. In the Lord of the Flies it shows dedication, courage, and strength. It also shows how they can work together and get things taken care of even when times are tough. Ralph and Piggy display a variety of similarities and
When Ralph first blew the conch shell to get all the boys rounded up together after the plane crash, he was not necessarily doing any sort of extraordinary thing. He wasn't even the person who came up with the idea to blow the conch. Even so, because he did this one action, along with the fact that he was fit and had fair hair, fitting the classic model of how an English boy should be, the other boys immediately saw him as powerful. They based their decision to make Ralph leader based on impulsive, hurried judgements they made in the first moments being around him. Piggy was also judged by his appearance and actions immediately, however the other boys’ conclusions were not as favorable toward him due to his physical shortcomings. Asch would say that our first impression of someone is what we base our later opinions of their personality on. He claimed that impressions form in our brains immediately when we first meet someone. Ralph impressed everyone, Piggy did not . “[Piggy] was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice. He shrank to the other side of Ralph” (21). Later observations may confirm or change our first opinion, according to Asch, but we cannot keep ourselves from forming these first impressions. At the end of the book, when the Navy officer discovers the boys on the island, he looks at how dirty the boys are and
After the air crashes, Ralph and Piggy meet each other. Piggy is very talkative and gets nervous easily. Ralph ignores Piggy while he is keeps insisting that his auntie told him not to swim or run because of his