Lord of the flies Essay

In Lord of the Flies, one of the main characters, Piggy is such a iridescent person. Throughout this famous novel by William Golding, Piggy is the multitudinous with poor eyesight, a weight issues, and asthma. He is the most weak when it comes to physical activity when it comes to of all the boys, even though he is very intelligence. Piggy represents the thoughtful world. Specifically, Golding uses Piggy’s actions, appearance, and speech to reveal the character’s most general flaws throughout the novel.

To begin, Golding uses Piggy’s appearance throughout the novel to reveal his changing attitude. At this point in the novel, Golding is describing the appearance of Piggy and teaching us about the characters who are stranded on the island. It started out with a fair and fat boy, which was Ralph and Piggy. The novel states, “The naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns. He bent down, removed the thorns carefully, and turned around.

He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat” (Golding 7). In this moment, Golding describes the appearance of Piggy. This suggests that he is quite chubby and fat compared to the other boy. It also states that he was short. The quote shows how other people see him and how he is different than the other kids. This reveals that he probably gets bullied, which makes him hold back and be less confident. Another quote is, “‘That’s right. Can’t catch my breath. I was the only boy in our school who had asthma’, said the fat boy with a touch of pride. ‘And I’ve been wearing specs since I was three.’ He took off his glasses and held them out to Ralph, blinking and smiling, and then started to wipe them against his grubby windbreaker” (Golding 9). This quote includes other things Piggy has which includes spectacles and asthma. Even though he is much different than the other boys, he is very incredulous. The quotation states that he was smiling and showing signs of pride, unlike the other quote. This shows that he is getting more self-confident and he isn’t afraid to be himself. He is embracing his unique differences rather than being insecure and holding back as much as he used to.

Next, Golding reveals Piggy’s altering attitude through his actions. Prior to the first quotation, Jack lets the fire go out which causes Piggy to get aggravated. Piggy calls him out and they begin arguing. Both pieces of evidence that reveal Piggy’s attitude, are from altercations with other characters. “Piggy sat down with a grunt. Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation. ‘You would, would you? Fatty!’ Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror: ‘My specs!’ He went crouching and feeling over the rocks but Simon, who got there first, found them for him. Passions beat about Simon on the mountaintop with awful wings. ‘One side’s broken.’ Piggy grabbed and put on the glasses. He looked malevolently at Jack. ‘I got to have them specs. Now I only got one eye. Jus’ you wait’ Jack made a move toward Piggy, who scrambled away till a great rock lay between them” (Golding 71-72). n this piece of evidence, his actions reveal his attitude. This suggests that Piggy is weak and has trouble sticking up for himself against some people. The novel states, “‘Mind my specs,’ said Piggy. ‘If I get water on the glass I got to get out and clean ‘em.’ Ralph squirted again and missed. He laughed at Piggy, expecting him to retire meekly as usual and in pained silence. Instead, Piggy beat the water with his hands. ‘Stop it!’ he shouted. ‘D’you hear? Furiously he drove the water into Ralph’s face”’ (Golding 147). His actions of pushing the water in Ralph’s face and beating the water with his hands show his confident and fearless attitude. Overall, he is acknowledging his self-worth and learning to stick up for himself. As time passes, he continues to gain positivity and confidence.

Lastly, Golding uses Piggy’s speech to reveal his confident attitude. His attitude has been getting much more confident and true as time passes. Each situation he encounters, he handles it better and better. Piggy finally learns to stick up for himself against the others. First, the novel states “‘You stop it!’ said Piggy, shrilly. ‘What good’re you doing talking like that?’ He jumped to his feet over Ralph. ‘It was dark. There was that—that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!’ ‘I wasn’t scared,’ said Ralph slowly, ‘I was—I don’t know what I was.’ ‘We was scared!’ said Piggy excitedly” (Golding 156). It shows that Piggy isn’t afraid to be true to himself and he is very assertive. Ralph is trying to cover up the fact that they are scared but Piggy shows his feelings and is honest and true to himself and Ralph. He isn’t afraid to express his thoughts, even if they show weakness. “‘Nobody knows where we are,’ said Piggy. He was paler than before and breathless. ‘Perhaps they knew where we was going to; and perhaps not. But they don’t know where we are ‘cos we never got there.’ He gaped at them for a moment, then swayed and sat down. Ralph took the conch from his hands. ‘That’s what I was going to say,’ he went on, ‘when you all, all… ‘ He gazed at their intent faces. ‘The plane was shot down in flames. Nobody knows where we are. We may be here a long time’” (Golding 32). In this moment, Piggy is talking about the reality of the fact they are stranded and how they got there. It shows how he is able to be honest with himself and everyone else. This reveals that he is trustworthy because they now know he is good at coming to reality, even in difficult situations.

In conclusion, Golding uses characterization to convey the apprehension, exasperation, and honesty in Piggy’s attitude. From his actions, speech, and appearance, readers learn that Piggy has a very different personality than any other character in this novel. Through Piggy, Golding realistically reveals the difficult, intellectual, and physically vulnerable life of a poor boy who is representing the thoughtful world. The overall message that Golding is trying to portray is that people value the wrong things in life when they should put important values first.