A first impression is something that one gets a single shot at. They either make it count or they completely miss, but one thing one cannot determine from a first impression is some ones true motives. As a wise Joyce Myer once said, “Motives reveal why we do what we do, which is actually more important to God than what we're doing”. One has to sit back and learn why a person said this or said that in a first impression. When one can listen and learn from a person, that is when the reasons behind the choices that are being made come out. In the novel “Lord of the Flies”, written by William Golding, there is a very interesting character named Piggy. In this novel the static characteristics of Piggy allow his motives of insecurity and order to …show more content…
This allows one to see his motive of insecurity when he first meets Ralph. This motive is apparent when the narrator says, “The fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer of acquaintance was not made…” (Golding 9). There were many things going through Piggy’s head at this time, and it is the same for everyone on their first impression with one. He wanted to listen to what the other boy had to say, but did not want to seem too pushy, and act like it was all about himself. It is almost like Piggy did not want him to ask what his name is because he was not really sure what he wanted to go by. This is showing the reader how shy Piggy is, and gives the reader a good idea that he is holding something back. Piggy did not want to give a bad impression to Ralph and he would achieve this by respecting him, and listening to him. Piggy was worried that if he told him the truth that he would be made fun of, which would be more of a contribution to his lack of confidence. This insecurity of his name is shown again, just a couple pages later when Piggy says in a whisper, “They used to call me Piggy” (Golding 11). Although the reader is not positive, one is able to assume that this is name is a nickname. It is very evident why Piggy has this nickname, considering that he is as chunky young boy. It is also very obvious that he did not want …show more content…
He wants everything to stay in order on this island. He is aware that if people start to fight and separate, it will make their chances of getting off of the island even slimmer. When things started to go downhill between the two groups Piggy got very upset at Jack, and he did not like the choices that Jack was making. The reader is able to see this when he says, “You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home…” (Golding 70). Piggy was tired, he was frustrated, and he wanted to go home. He knew that what Jack was doing was not contributing to the boys and their quest to get off of the island. Piggy had finally had enough, and he knew that splitting off into two groups and having two leaders was not going to keep order on the island. It was simply going to cause more chaos than there already was. Piggy was focused on the big picture, which was getting off of the island. He was the one doing the things that were going to allow them to get rescued such as maintain a fire, build shelters, and gather food all as a group to be more efficient. Piggy was not about the amount of pride and popularity that would be gained for doing something incredible, but simply about being as effective as possibly to get back home to his family. As the book goes on Piggy’s motive for order does not change, he still wants to have the most important thing to get off of the island and that is evident when he says,
Piggy is also very intimidated by boys like Jack and Roger. For example, when Jack tells Piggy to shut up “Piggy [wilts]”and this shows that his confidence always seems to go down whenever boys like Jack are
Piggy is upset with Ralph before they leave the island because Ralph thinks it is ok to make their choir boy group into hunters to kill animals. For example in the story in chapter 1 it says “Ralph talked the group into becoming hunters and killing a pig stuck in rope. Another example is when they left to go to walk and look around the lagoon Ralph saw a pig and chased it but stopped himself and said “ next time I will show no mercy.” Piggy didn't want to be a killer nor wanted his friends to
( 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
A. Piggy’s positivity saved Ralph from collapsing as a leader in Lord of the Flies, and Mattie keeps Ethan happy through his rough marriage and lonely times in Ethan Frome.
Piggy is known for being the most intellectual and reasonable out of the boys. While the other boys are off fooling around and dreaming about their next adventure, Piggy is using reason to plan an organized method of survival on the island where everyone is satisfied. For example, while the other boys were exploring the island, Simon came up with an idea and said, “‘I’ve been thinking,” he said, “about a clock. We could make a sundial. We could put a stick in the sand, and then—’” (Golding 90). Although the boys can rule using any form of government on the island, Piggy attempts to create a civilized and orderly environment by advising Ralph to implement a democratic state. Despite his weak appearance, Piggy has a very strong moral compass and sense of self assurance, meaning, he’s very confident in the moral choices he makes. Since he bases his actions and way of thinking on reason and justice, he has a tendency to believe everyone should follow and share his methods because “rules are rules.” As seen when electing a leader, Piggy believed that because the conch and name system were his ideas, he should have been voted as leader, resulting in “Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 29). Due to his strong confidence, Piggy is not afraid to act upon his beliefs and what is right, even if it may not be a popular
Ralph was starting to notice all the differences between night and day. He realized his choices don't only have an affect on that moment but affect every moment after it. Ralph was very scared and for a moment he thought Piggy should be chief. “He could go step by step inside that fat head os his only Piggy was no chef. But Piggy for all his ludicrous body had brains.”(78) As Ralph was starting to question if he was fit to be chief he thought of Piggy and how intelligent he is. Although Piggy is intelligent he doesn't have the ‘look’ to be a chief. Today's society has a specific way of thinking we want our leader to look like a leader. With Piggy's intelligent mind he knows how the boys should live but they don't like to think that way and Piggy was not happy about what they were becoming.Piggy decided to tell the boys how he felt and thought about them in a rhetorical way. “‘Which is better to be a pack of painted indians like you are or to be sensible like ralph is?...which is better--to have laws and agree or to hunt and kill?’” (180) Piggy didn't change his mindset from the beginning of the book to the end. He believed that they needed rules and laws. In the beginning he was a timid boy who did not like speaking in front of the boys and only told ralph about his thoughts but towards the end of the book you saw his personality become more open
Piggy tries to do what’s best for everyone. He was the ‘word of reason.’ But since nobody respected him, he was never given power. The author states, “ ‘I got the conch,’ said Piggy indignantly. ‘You let me speak!’ ‘The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain,’ said Jack. ‘So you shut up.’ ‘... I got the conch!’ Jack turned fiercely. ‘You shut up!’ Piggy wilted.” (Golding 42.) Jack treats Piggy as if he is unimportant. All characters show cruelty towards Piggy one way or another. Because Piggy has the mentality of an adult, the boys refuse to listen since they want their freedom. The author indicates, “... Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all
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...
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
He acted powerfully, and he placed fear into the other islanders hearts. Where Jack enters the story, the text states, “Piggy asked no names. He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice” (Golding 21). This is an example of the automatic fear that struck the others at his moment of arrival in the story that seemed to carry out through the entirety of the story, and possibly even intensified closer to the end. Again, Jack strikes fear when he makes conversation about hunting- which ends up overtaking him completely by the end of the book, “All the same you need and army- for hunting. Hunting pigs-’” (Golding 32). Although he is talking about hunting for food, this quote has an eerie feeling to it, almost as though he is a little too excited to create his own army just for hunting; could this possibly be his first display of extreme power that transformed into hunger for it as the story progressed? One last example of Jack’s dictatorship is when he cries excitedly, “‘We’ll have rules!’” (Golding 33). He seems to want to force everyone to follow him in this section of the story by making rules that everyone must follow; This is also ironic because he is also the first to start disobeying them when he realizes that they are not what he wants so he can gain that full lead, or dictatorship, he strives to ‘achieve.’
More specifically, Jack says to the littluns “Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island....Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies” (75). Upon knowing that because the littluns are so young and ignorant, they should be looked out for more and taught to make positive choices. Instead of comforting the littluns, Jack is quick to tell them off by hoping the beast gets them because they are weak and useless. By saying such a vulgar statement, Jack shows how cruel and self-centered he is because he does not consider the feelings of others and how much his words would affect them. Jack therefore only considers his feelings and expects everyone else to follow what he says because he sees his words as law. By doing so, Jack starts to break the laws of the civilized and turn towards what he wants instead of what everyone else needs. In contrast to Jack, Piggy shows greater benevolence towards others but because of his appearance, he is looked down on by the other boys. To demonstrate, when Piggy tries to voices his opinions on the fire, Golding describes, “They (the boys) looked at him with eyes that lacked interest in what they saw” (44). The boys show how little they care about Piggy and what he says because they do not see him as someone who should hold authority over them. Because he is fat, ugly, and has glasses and asthma, the boys stereotype him as a pushover and a fool. As a result, Piggy is outcasted by the other. So if Piggy was the leader of the boys and could not get them to listen to his ideas then it would just lead them to corruption. Ultimately, the leadership of both Jack and Piggy would only lead the boys to corruption and violence while Ralph’s leadership would be peaceful because he demonstrates confidence and positive
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...
After Ralph carelessly reveal the nickname “Piggy” to the others it triggered all the boys, "even the tiniest," to laugh which sets up Piggy to be the brunt of jokes and bullying. As the story develops, Piggy demonstrates time after time that he is able to contribute to the group mentally. For an example, Piggy suggested that they should construct the signal fire on the beach instead of the top of the mountain after Jack formed his own tribe. Piggy’s wisdom and intelligence begins to become obvious to Ralph but to the rest of the group, Piggy is still thought as weak and useless; it seems that the only time anyone speaks to piggy it involves an insult of some sort.
Piggy is one of the intriguing characters of the novel. He rarely agrees with the opinions of the others and he seems to be smarter. Still, the other boys pretty much don’t listen to him, except Ralph, who appreciates his opinion in some parts. At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Piggy talks a lot, especially about him and his aunt, but quickly he learns that nobody is interested in it and he accepts being ignored, "’I don't care what they call me,’ he said confidentially, ‘so long as they don't call me what they used to call me in school. [...] They used to call me Piggy’” (Golding 11). The boys haven’t been on the island for a very long time at this point, and Piggy makes the mistake of telling Ralph the
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.