Piggy

"They used to call me Piggy!'"

- Chapter 1

Piggy is a major character in William Golding's Lord of the Flies. He is among the survivors of British schoolboys who was stranded on the Island.

He is one of the most important of the boys who try to create their civilized society and govern themselves, but it all goes horribly wrong.

Description
Nicknamed for his obese and ugly appearance, Piggy was generally treated as a lonely outcast by his peers. Upon landing on the island, he finally manages to find his first, true friend named Ralph, and he becomes close and helpful to him. But he lacks the power of being a leader since he has no leadership requirements and that he relies too much on power, such as holding the conch shell will always give him the right to be listened to. But even so, he is constantly ignored and overlooked by the other boys.

Piggy's glasses also serve as an important symbol as it represents science and discovery. One example includes when the boys steal his glasses to ignite the sun ray's to produce fire, and they also found out how to make their own fire from scratch without using the necessary tools. But to Piggy, he is completely helpless without them, and the boys act more selfish to him and just want to use his glasses more for survival than looking to him for help.

Piggy's real name is never revealed, and his nickname is a meaning to his body; since his fatness and face represents an actual pig, and they are fat and weird-looking, a lot like Piggy himself. When he meets Ralph for the first time, he didn't want him to tell anyone his name for fear of being embarrassed and ashamed of the way he was named and treated by his school peers. And the real reason why Ralph had cried at the end and the narrator mentioned "the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy", it's believed that he may not be crying for Piggy, but that he never found out what his name was; therefore it's evident that Piggy's real name will forever remain a mystery to the reader.

Arrival on the island
At some point before or during the nuclear war, Piggy had lived a decent life. His parents were dead and he was brought up by his aunt, who had run a candy shop and had all the candy that he wanted.

He was among the group of schoolboys evacuated from England when an atomic bomb exploded. After the plane crashes onto the island, Piggy made his way out of the wreckage and joins up with a handsome, fair-haired boy, also a survivor. They discuss about what had just happened to the plane and to anyone else who was with them. Piggy finds out the fair-haired boy's name is Ralph and he walks away from him. He tries to catch up, but has a hard time due to his asthma. He eats some fruit he finds as he makes his way to the beach where Ralph is.

He suggests they make a meeting to round up everyone that survived. When asked his name, he refuses at first, but when he does, Ralph makes fun of his name and Piggy begs him not to tell it to anyone.