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Piggy Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Decent Essays

The theme of often the better-looking people end up leaders is represented through the use of a stunning looking conch. When the boys were deciding who the leader of their band should be, they choose Ralph because, “There was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” (19) Ralph is chosen to be the leader of the party because he is “attractive” and has possession of the conch, not because he has any intuitive leadership characteristics. In this situation, Ralph is the conch among average shells and stones. Since the association chooses Ralph for his looks, they miss out on the only sensible figure in the group, Piggy. Piggy, being the fat one of the crowd, was never considered to be the …show more content…

With Jack’s new obsession with hunting pigs on the island, When he seeks “A little apart from the rest sunk in deep maternal bliss, lay the largest sow of the lot. She was black and pink; and the bladder of her belly was fringed with a row of piglets that slept or burrowed and squealed.” (147) His actions and choice of the pig might have a great impact on the group of boys if they stayed on the island longer than they did. With Jack choosing a sow, he jeopardizes their main source of protein by slaughtering a mother, who will raise their possible next meals. In connection with the stick sharpened at both ends, Jack killed their next meal, feeding them for the night, but in the future, he may have threatened their supply of protein. Not only is the boys’ origin of protein imperil, the only other supply of food, their fruit, is too. When Jack and the others light the island on fire in pursuit of Ralph, Ralph exclaims, “The fools! The fire must be almost at the fruit trees - what would they eat tomorrow?” (220) Ralph is right in this situation, with their main food source being the fruit trees, the group is left with nothing to eat. Also, if the youth are not successful in regrowing the fruit trees, and with their future predicament with the pigs, the boys might be left to starve if they were left on the island longer. The stick sharpened at both ends …show more content…

The beast acts as a symbol for the group’s horror when Sam and Eric think they see the beast and, “Then as though they had one terrified mind between them they scrambled away over the rocks and fled.” (107) The beast, truly being a made up creature brought to life through the fear of the group, make the group extra sensitive when anything is out of the ordinary. The thought of the beast not only conjures up fear, it brings in a sense of uncertainty. Through the alternating beliefs of the beast being real, the boys are left thinking, “I mean when Jack says you can be frightened because people are frightened anyway that’s all right. But when he says there’s only pigs on this island I expect he’s right but he doesn’t know, not really, not certainly I mean” (95) No one knows who to believe and whether what they are saying is true. Not only uncertainty, but paranoia is conceived with the creation of the beast. When Simon determines that the beast is not real, he is bombarded by the savage behaviors of his peers and when “Simon was crying out something about a dead man on the hill. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’” (168) The boys' crude actions put a stop to Simon’s judgment before he could even get it out of his mouth because of the boys' paranoia, painting Simon as the imaginary beast. Overall, the beast,

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