The Importance of Being Piggy

“Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labour.” (Golding 68)

The character Piggy in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies serves as the intellectual balance to the emotional leaders of a group of shipwrecked British boys. Ironically, their new society values physical qualities over intellectual attributes whereas it is the rational actions that will lead to their survival. Piggy’s actions and the reactions from his fellow survivors foreshadow his eventual death. Lord of the Flies is overflowing with creative symbolism, surrounding every event and character; Piggy is no exception. From being the representation of scholars to the comparison with Prometheus, Golding ensures Piggy’s short life is well remembered.

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 unpopular. This was demonstrated when the children were excited about the first fire they created on the mountain without a well thought-out rescue plan. Piggy lectured them by asking how they could “…expect to be rescued if [they] don’t put first things first and act proper?” (45), which is something they did not want to hear, this was proven time and time again when the boys not let him speak without interruption even when he had the conch shell. Piggy’s greatest asset was also his weakest point; the only way he could relate to the other boys was at an intellectual level, whereas the other boys could only relate on an emotional level. Ironically, in spite of his intelligence and logic, rational thought, from the beginning of the novel, Piggy was a social outcast.

Because Piggy is much more intelligent than the other boys, he adds a sizeable amount of irony to Lord of the Flies. The other castaways on the island treat Piggy with disrespect and contempt, despite how clever the overweight child actually is. The whole time the boys are stranded on the deserted island, instead of concern, they show a definite lack of interest and care for Piggy. The central reason for this cruel deficiency of empathy is Piggy’s appearance. Regardless of how intelligent he was, Piggy was ignored because he was fat and he had glasses; the other children could not see past this unattractive faзade to the logical and analytical genius underneath. Several times during the novel, Piggy tried to speak his mind, undoubtedly providing logical insight to many issues, such as lighting and maintaining a rescue fire, only have his ideas rejected by his peers. This was illustrated when Piggy had to keep expressing “I got the conch!” (110), in order to get the group’s attention because he was pointedly being ignored. In the final analysis it is ironic that the other boys ignored information that could have saved their lives. Shortly after they crashed, Piggy was undertaking a logical assessment of their situation, trying to get the boys’ names and a headcount when Jack said, “You’re talking too much, shut up Fatty.” (17) This shows disrespect for the process Piggy was trying to initiate, which was ironically, a process that could have served to unite them and avoid violence. It is further ironic that although the group despised Piggy, they found a way to use him without his consent, for their own benefit. Stealing his glasses to start the fire displayed disrespect for Piggy while using a symbol of his intelligence for their own advantage (40). This disrespect led to contempt and foreshadowed Piggy’s death.

William Golding incorporates foreshadowing into his masterpiece at every available opportunity. After completing the novel, these small hints of what is to come are much more apparent to the reader. Many of these clues are very obvious; for instance, right from the beginning when Piggy is expressing to Ralph the importance of not resigning his position as chief he asks, “If you give up, what’ud happen to me?” (100). This quote alludes to Jack’s cruel behaviour towards Piggy, and the possibility that