The Enforcers of Civilization In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies numerous symbols revolve around the cen- tral theme of civilization against savagery. This theme may be paraphrased as law and order ver- sus chaos, advancement opposed to degeneration and essentially, good versus evil. The events that occur on the island reflect the correlation between civility and goodness as opposed to sav- agery and evil. Many of the positive events that arise on the island are associated with the sym- bols of Piggy’s glasses, the conch and the signal fire which all have civil ties to the world the boys left behind. Piggy’s glasses are the last remnants of the rational and intellectual society from the boy’s past. When the spectacles are intact the events …show more content…
This implies that by reinventing fire, the boys climb the ladder of inventions and discoveries which promotes their standings of evolution. Since civilized ac- tions are associated with positive events, the advancement from the glasses is favourable. Fur- thermore, the symbol of Piggy’s spectacles contribute to events of rationality which ties into civi- lization and the positive events that occur on the island. Piggy’s reasoning and logic are exempli- fied when he criticizes the boys’ ability to prioritize when lighting the fire, “...he laughed so strangely that they were hushed, looking at the flash of his spectacles... ‘How can you expect to be rescued if you don't put first things first and act proper?” (43-45). This suggests that Piggy’s glasses give him the ability to see why sensibility is essential in making sound decisions. This civilized insight acts as a positive form of guidance on the island. Moreover, Piggy’s glasses pro- vide innovative concepts that enhance civilization and circumstances on the island. Piggy sug- gests that the conch can be used as a trumpet to “call the others [and] have a meeting” (12). Pig- gy’s glasses give him the knowledge of how to use the conch that the other boys lack. This idea to congregate the boys is ingenuity that originates from the glasses themselves and improves the boys’ lives on the island. The practical progressions that the glasses have established permit the boys to continue their urbane …show more content…
The shell’s symbolism is responsible for Ralph being elected chief which effectively prevented chaos from ensuing because there was one respected civil voice to work for the good of the group. Civilized values are also instilled through the shared power of the conch. As chief, Ralph decides that whoever wishes to share their opinions “...can hold it when he’s speaking [and] won’t be interrupted” (31) by anyone except himself. The conch gives everyone a chance to voice their opinions and concerns. This brings about civilized and positive events to occur because the minorities of the weak and little ones are justly represented. The civilized at- tribute of order is established in the boy’s society through the conch as well. Since the children were left to their own devices the conch assisted Ralph to make “...a meeting. So [the boys] can decide what to do.”(17). The plan of action that is created in advance keeps all the boys orga- nized and in agreement to running the society in the same civil and positive manner. The boys have established a makeshift civilization with leadership which will suffice until they are res-
When Piggy’s glasses break in half, it symbolizes the boy's descent into savageness. Glasses, by definition¹, are “a pair of lenses used to correct or assist defective eyesight for an individual with vision problems.” Obviously, these glasses are only effective when the lenses are not broken, and this principle also applies in The Lord of the Flies. In The Lord of the Flies, the goal of the boys is to survive, and get rescued off of the island. To get rescued off of the island and therefore survive, Ralph decides that the boys need a fire, to make a smoke signal so passing ships or planes can spot them. They use the lenses of Piggy’s glasses to start this fire. When Jack lets this fire go out when he is out hunting for a pig, Ralph gets very angry, because the passing ship could have rescued them. This leads to the first fight as a result of the boy's’ newfound savageness. This fight leads to Piggy’s glasses breaking for the first time. Piggy’s glasses break again when Jack’s group steals them in a bid to start a fire of their own. “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back.
Piggy is the only one on the island who can see clearly, his glasses portray that for him. Piggy’s glasses do not only help him literally see, but they also help with clarity and staying focused on the task at hand, “Ralph remember what we came for. The fire. My specs” (Golding 177). Piggy is reminding Ralph of their task at Castle Rock, to get the specs and the fire back. Piggy is focused on the task at hand and wants to get the job done the way he in visions it. He wants to get the job done and he wants to get out of there. Piggy is bringing clarity to the boys, “Which is better-to be a pack of painted indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is? ...rules and agree or hunt and kill? ...law and rescue or hunting and breaking things up?” (Golding 180). Piggy is trying to talk sense into the savages and he is making them reflect on their actions comparing them to both camps. He is trying to bring common sense back into the boys. He is helping them see what they have done because their vision is a little blurred from being on the island for so long. Piggy realizes the situation is getting tense and tells his camp and Ralph that it is time to take care of the situation. Piggy takes over at the assembly and puts jack in his place , “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things has been done on this island. I voted for you for chief. He’s the only one who ever got anything done. So now you speak, Ralph, and tell us what. Or else –” (Golding 170). The da...
Second, Piggy’s glasses represent civilization. Piggy’s glasses are a small piece of civilization they can cling to. When the glasses are first cracked, it is a symbolic drop in the civilization of the boys on the island. Jack punches Piggy and the glasses fall off his face, only one of the lenses is broken which represents half of the destruction of civilization. But when Piggy is crushed by the boulder and his specs are destroyed, it represents the total destruction of their civilization and the boys fall into savagery and begin to hunt down Ralph.
...ally it shows us that this was not a place intended for human life. By the end of the novel they have set the entire island on fire. Piggy’s glasses breaking means that he cannot see the world as he once did, and that his insight is slowly fading. Piggy however remains himself until his death.
William Golding has been very clever in pointing out this by means of what he looks like. Once the glasses were broken this was also showing the state of social order on the island (since Jack punched Piggy and broke his glasses the social order dropped). As the condition of the glasses got worse so did the level of social order of the boys.
fun on the island. Piggy represents the logical side of humans by his thick glasses (called specs in the novel) so he responds to the chaos with a plea of order.
It is this desire for docorum that underlines Piggy's belief that they will all be saved from the island - the only person to believe this will happen. Therefore Piggy himself becomes symbolic of the boys' hope to be saved from the island. The hope literally comes from his glasses. Piggy's spectacles are taken from him and used to start smoke signals. Without glasses Piggy's sight, like the boys' vision of what is in their best interests, becomes blurred.
To begin with, the symbol of the conch shell demonstrates that Ralph represents civilization. For example, “The being that had blown
Two boys from similar upbringings can both be so drastically different when put in difficult situations and given things to make them wield power, among others. Spitz says, “But his desire for many controls did not, of course, extend to controls he disliked, to those over himself. These glasses are very symbolic. They don’t just represent Piggy, but all the boys and how they must survive on the island, although they do not realize its importance yet.
The first point proving how Piggy represents the rational adult figure on the island is how his approach on surviving is that of what an adult would do. At the beginning of the book, Piggy maturely takes on the job of writing down the names of all the children. He also “moved among the crowd, asking names and frowning to remember them” (14). Through the eyes o...
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
The kids' fear of not being rescued from the island led the group to the top of the mountain to make signal fires. They used Piggy's glasses in order to make that fire:
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
Piggy was the one boy in the novel who has all the knowledge. Despite his asthma and obese problem, Piggy never failed to contribute his cerebral and intelligent ideas. He came up with all the ideas on how to survive and tried to keep the group organized and civilized. The glasses of Piggy symbolized his knowledge and smartness.
Two important symbols of civilization, the conch and the glasses, are closely followed throughout the action. As the civilized life breaks up on the island, the glasses are broken and stolen, and the conch is crushed. Piggy, who wears the glasses and carries the conch, is killed.