William Golding
Piggy and the world he represents
Piggy is a short and overweight boy who wears thick glasses, he is an orphan who was brought up by his aunt, and he represents orders and democracy. It is no coincidence that Piggy’s nickname is such. He is afflicted with asthma and does not care to do tiring work on the island. Piggy tries very hard to cling to civilization, and tries his best to keep peace. Although he is one of the smartest boy on the island, but he lacks any social skills whatsoever, and has trouble communicating or fitting in with the others. His glasses are very important part of the book, as they are used over and over to start fires and it’s their only hope of rescue.
Piggy represents the law and order of the adult world. He is the superego, the part of man’s personality which attempts to act according to an absolute set of standards. Throughout the novel, Piggy attempts to condition the island society to mirror the society they all lived in, in England. Piggy’s continual references to his auntie demonstrate this philosophy. He tries to pull Ralph, who throughout the story struggles to maintain order, forced to compete with Jack for respect, towards the reason-oriented side of human nature.
The relationship between Ralph in Piggy is somewhat complicated. At first Piggy is very eager to see that another boy beside himself has survived the plane crash. Piggy is very enthusiastic to introduce himself and get to know Ralph. In fact he is too enthused. This introduction partially alienates Piggy. However Ralph notices that Piggy is a competent individual and may be of value.
Throughout the book Ralph is mean to Piggy. This comes in part from his security with him. Ralph knows that he is Piggy’s only defense. Piggy is described as an outsider on page 21 when the narrator says “For a moment the boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with Piggy on the outside...”.
Ralph, nonetheless, does start relying on