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Essay on In His Novel, Lord Of The Flies, William Golding Uses The Character Of Piggy To Represent Knowledge And Order. Piggy Is A Short
| Date: |
09-30-01 9:34am |
| Subject: |
Miscellaneous |
| Word Count: |
317 |
| Page Count: |
1.27 |
In his novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the character of Piggy to represent knowledge and order. Piggy is a short, overweight boy who wears glasses. He is afflicted with asthma and doesn't care to do strenuous work on the island. He tries very hard to cling to civilization, and tries his best to keep peace. While probably the smartest boy on the island, he lacks any social skills whatsoever, and has trouble communicating or fitting in with the others. For instance, after Piggy and Ralph converse for a short while and Piggy recognizes Ralph's leadership qualities, Piggy promptly urged, " We can use this (conch) to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us---"(16) Piggy, too timid to take a course of action, and blow the conch himself, detects Ralph's physical and charismatic qualities and smartly lets Ralph blow the conch, illustrating how his character is symbolic of knowledge. Additionally, when Piggy confronts Ralph alone while all the other boys are hunting or playing, Piggy enthusiastically suggests, " I've been thinking, about a clock. We could make a sundial. We could put a stick in the sand, and then---"(64) This idea is of high intelligence, much too high for any other boy on the island to understand, showing that Piggy has a superior intellect. Finally, when Ralph calls a late night meeting and Simon is constantly being interrupted while speaking, Piggy emphatically states, " Hear him he got the Conch, Nuts!" Via Simon and Ralph, Piggy feels protected and is able to not only enforce the rules but to speak out. He sensibly understands that the key to survival is living in a civilized and organized fashion. Obviously, the littluns are totally naïve to this fact and have nowhere near the mental capacity of Piggy. Throughout his novel, Golding uses Piggy to represent a knowledgeable and civilized person.
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