Piggy is one of four central characters in William
Golding's novel Lord of the Flies. The story is set on a tropical
island where a group of English schoolboys has survived a plane crash. Piggy is the
second character we meet, and he is unforgettable.
Piggy is
fat (hence his nickname), has asthma, wears thick spectacles, has been rather babied by
his auntie since his parents died, and is clearly the best thinker and organizer on the
island. When Ralph, one of the other characters, meets Piggy, his first reaction is to
get away from him (though perhaps that is because Piggy is suffering from diarrhea in
the nearby bushes). When the littler boys meet Piggy, they have no particular reaction
to him; however, when Jack, the leader of the choirboys, meets Piggy, he instantly
dislikes him.
“You’re talking too much,” said Jack Merridew.
“Shut up, Fatty.”
Despite
Ralph's unkindnesses to him in the beginning, Piggy allies himself with Ralph because he
knows Ralph offers the best protection from Jack and his hunters. Likewise Ralph
eventually realizes that, as a leader, he needs Piggy's help to think and
plan.
As the novel progresses, Piggy is a necessary part of
island life because he has the glasses that can start fire; however, by the end of the
novel Jack's disdain for Piggy (who represents intellect and reasoning) intensifies, and
soon he steals Piggy's glasses and allows one of his savages to kill Piggy by dropping a
boulder on him.
As a symbol, Piggy is the reasoning part
of man, and as the boys grow more savage they do not want to be reminded of
reasonableness or thinking. Instincts have taken over and because the boys are no longer
using their minds to determine their actions, Piggy has no way to defend himself against
their savagery.
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