Piggy Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

Intelligence is the key to all progress and success. Without it, William Golding never would’ve been able to write Lord of the Flies. Written language would not exist, and neither would such a canon literary work. That said, all communities, even those that consist entirely of young boys, require some source of intelligence and logic. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the characterization of Piggy to promote the necessity of intelligence within a civilization.

Throughout the first four chapters Piggy is clearly an outsider, but his maturity and intelligence allow him to grasp the severity of their situation in a way the others can’t. Piggy serves the same role on the island as he would’ve back in England. He is very much the stereotypical nerd, and because of this the boys often overlook his importance. Piggy is the second character introduced in the book, and Golding describes him as, “[h]e

Afterwards, however, he represents what the boys have lost. Piggy is the one responsible for keeping Ralph sane and humane, and one way he does this is by rationalizing what the group did to Simon, “’It was an accident . . . Coming in the dark- he hadn’t no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it’” (Golding 160). In doing so keeps Ralph from losing faith in himself and his humanity. Without Ralph, the original chief, the others would have abandoned all hope a long time ago. Piggy realizes this and dedicates himself to being Ralph’s brain and conscience. Until his death, that is. Once he’s gone and Ralph is on his own, Ralph often finds himself in situations where he longs for Piggy, “to talk sense” (Golding 201). In this same moment Ralph misses the, “solemn assembly for debate” (Golding 201), and the, “dignity of the conch” (Golding 201). Piggy has finally gained the recognition he so deserves, but the damage has been done; the boys are