Piggy's Symbols
Lord of the Flies by William Golding, takes place on a deserted island during World War II. The Lord of The Flies is about a group of school boys from Britain who were on a plane that got shot down and crashed on an island with boys ages ranging from 5-13. Shortly after they arrived, they voted for a leader out of the three main characters, Piggy, Ralph and Jack. Jack the oldest, being the most commanding and authoritative is chosen to be the leader, although Piggy is ten times more intelligent that Jack is, and Ralph has better leadership skill. In Lord of The Flies there are a lot of major symbols. The beast is an important symbol because it symbolizes fear and savagery, although it really is the evil inside them. On the other hand Piggy’s
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glasses are a tool they use, but symbolizes vision and technology. Most importantly the conch is just a shell used as a tool, but symbolizes democracy and power. All of these have literal meanings and symbolic meanings that are all essential to the story. The beast is a big, important symbol in Lord of The Flies.
The whole time they are afraid of the “beast”, when really the beast is the evil inside themselves. In the dreams of the younger boys, the beast is a source of evil on the island. However, it really represents the evil inside everyone. Which is causing life on the island to deteriorate. Simon begins to realize this and tries to share with everyone, even before his encounter with the Lord of the Flies. Simon tells them, “What I mean is… maybe it's only us" (89; ch 5). Simon attempts to tell the boys but no one believes him. The beast represents savagery among the boys. William Golding constantly shows us examples of the boys being savage by their actions. As the boys change throughout the book, their need for hunting the beast, food, and chanting grew and they became more savage because of the beast. The beast also symbolizes fear in the boys. The first time the boys heard about the beast, some didn’t believe there was such thing and some were scared of what could happen. Samneric, the younger boys claimed they saw the beast and said “There were eyes. Teeth. Claws. We ran as fast as we could.” (100 ch; 6) The boys ran from something that wasn’t really the beast. They let their fear get to them and doing that they scared themselves. The beast caused anxiety for many of the littluns which is a big part of the novel, on the other hand people had disagreements about whether or not it’s
real.
Another symbol is Piggy’s glasses, they have a literal meaning as well as a symbolic meaning. Piggy’s glasses are critical to the boys because with his glasses they can start a fire, and that gives them ambition. The significance of this symbol is clear from the beginning when the boys use the lenses of the glasses to focus the sunlight and start a fire. When Jack’s hunters made an incursion on Ralph’s camp they stole Piggy’s glasses and left them with nothing . Stealing Piggy’s glasses gave Jack more power than anyone else had because he was the one who could maintain the fire. Symbolically, Piggy’s glasses represent technology and innovation. They are used to light the fire, and to help Piggy who is very wise, interact with the other boys. As the glasses are broken and eventually stolen, their resources become less and less available. They also symbolize vision, which is why William Golding makes Piggy short sighted with glasses, because they give him his ability to see clearly both symbolically and literally. Jack made a harmful action towards Piggy which lead to a disappointing action. “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks.” (71; ch 4) When Piggy’s glasses got knocked off by Jack one of the lenses broke and the boys’ lost some hope that they would get rescued. Piggy’s glasses have an important role in keeping their sanity. The conch is the most important symbol in Lord of The Flies. The conch is literally a tool used to gather. When Ralph and Piggy were exploring, Ralph spots a conch shell. Just then Piggy realizes they can use the conch as a trumpet, and since he can’t blow into it himself, Ralph takes the opportunity to be a leader and blows into the conch. That’s when Piggy comes up with the idea of using it to gather everyone to a meeting. Every time they have a meeting they use the conch to call everyone. The conch is used as a tool, but it represents power and authority. At the first meeting they made a rule that, only the person who has the conch can speak when they gather. When the boys chose a leader the conch was taken in discussion. Ralph, the boy who took control and blew the conch was nominated for leader because he took the initiative and showed leadership. The fact that he got nominated to be the leader all because he blew into some random shell he found shows how important and powerful the conch is. The conch shows a huge representation of civilized behavior. All the boys respect the conch and follow the rules regarding the conch, even Jack who is more of a savage. Before Piggy got crushed by a rock, no one except Ralph heard the rock before they saw it, on the other hand Piggy had no idea it was coming. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (181; ch 11) Piggy gets crushed by a giant boulder, with the conch in his hand the conch shatters into pieces and anarchy takes over. The conch was important to the boys because it symbolizes their only form of democracy and leadership. Overall the conch, Piggy’s glasses and the beast all have an important role in Lord of The Flies. The beast represents fear, but really the beast is the evil inside the boys. Secondly Piggy’s glasses are a tool used to see, but it symbolizes technology. The most significant symbol is the conch shell which represents power and democracy, but used as a tool to call people to a meeting. William Golding put all these symbols in the story to show representation of important components.
glasses are a tool they use, but symbolizes vision and technology. Most importantly the conch is just a shell used as a tool, but symbolizes democracy and power. All of these have literal meanings and symbolic meanings that are all essential to the story. The beast is a big, important symbol in Lord of The Flies.
The whole time they are afraid of the “beast”, when really the beast is the evil inside themselves. In the dreams of the younger boys, the beast is a source of evil on the island. However, it really represents the evil inside everyone. Which is causing life on the island to deteriorate. Simon begins to realize this and tries to share with everyone, even before his encounter with the Lord of the Flies. Simon tells them, “What I mean is… maybe it's only us" (89; ch 5). Simon attempts to tell the boys but no one believes him. The beast represents savagery among the boys. William Golding constantly shows us examples of the boys being savage by their actions. As the boys change throughout the book, their need for hunting the beast, food, and chanting grew and they became more savage because of the beast. The beast also symbolizes fear in the boys. The first time the boys heard about the beast, some didn’t believe there was such thing and some were scared of what could happen. Samneric, the younger boys claimed they saw the beast and said “There were eyes. Teeth. Claws. We ran as fast as we could.” (100 ch; 6) The boys ran from something that wasn’t really the beast. They let their fear get to them and doing that they scared themselves. The beast caused anxiety for many of the littluns which is a big part of the novel, on the other hand people had disagreements about whether or not it’s
real.
Another symbol is Piggy’s glasses, they have a literal meaning as well as a symbolic meaning. Piggy’s glasses are critical to the boys because with his glasses they can start a fire, and that gives them ambition. The significance of this symbol is clear from the beginning when the boys use the lenses of the glasses to focus the sunlight and start a fire. When Jack’s hunters made an incursion on Ralph’s camp they stole Piggy’s glasses and left them with nothing . Stealing Piggy’s glasses gave Jack more power than anyone else had because he was the one who could maintain the fire. Symbolically, Piggy’s glasses represent technology and innovation. They are used to light the fire, and to help Piggy who is very wise, interact with the other boys. As the glasses are broken and eventually stolen, their resources become less and less available. They also symbolize vision, which is why William Golding makes Piggy short sighted with glasses, because they give him his ability to see clearly both symbolically and literally. Jack made a harmful action towards Piggy which lead to a disappointing action. “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks.” (71; ch 4) When Piggy’s glasses got knocked off by Jack one of the lenses broke and the boys’ lost some hope that they would get rescued. Piggy’s glasses have an important role in keeping their sanity. The conch is the most important symbol in Lord of The Flies. The conch is literally a tool used to gather. When Ralph and Piggy were exploring, Ralph spots a conch shell. Just then Piggy realizes they can use the conch as a trumpet, and since he can’t blow into it himself, Ralph takes the opportunity to be a leader and blows into the conch. That’s when Piggy comes up with the idea of using it to gather everyone to a meeting. Every time they have a meeting they use the conch to call everyone. The conch is used as a tool, but it represents power and authority. At the first meeting they made a rule that, only the person who has the conch can speak when they gather. When the boys chose a leader the conch was taken in discussion. Ralph, the boy who took control and blew the conch was nominated for leader because he took the initiative and showed leadership. The fact that he got nominated to be the leader all because he blew into some random shell he found shows how important and powerful the conch is. The conch shows a huge representation of civilized behavior. All the boys respect the conch and follow the rules regarding the conch, even Jack who is more of a savage. Before Piggy got crushed by a rock, no one except Ralph heard the rock before they saw it, on the other hand Piggy had no idea it was coming. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (181; ch 11) Piggy gets crushed by a giant boulder, with the conch in his hand the conch shatters into pieces and anarchy takes over. The conch was important to the boys because it symbolizes their only form of democracy and leadership. Overall the conch, Piggy’s glasses and the beast all have an important role in Lord of The Flies. The beast represents fear, but really the beast is the evil inside the boys. Secondly Piggy’s glasses are a tool used to see, but it symbolizes technology. The most significant symbol is the conch shell which represents power and democracy, but used as a tool to call people to a meeting. William Golding put all these symbols in the story to show representation of important components.