"They used to call me Piggy!'" ― Chapter 1
Piggy is a major character in William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Piggy is among the survivors of British schoolboys who were stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean, and is one of the most important of the boys who try to create their civilized society and govern themselves, which 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 finds his first true friend, Ralph, who becomes close and helpful to him. However, he lacks the power of being a leader since he has no leadership requirements and relies too much on power. For example, holding the conch shell will always give him the right to be listened to. But even so, the other boys constantly ignore and overlook him.
Piggy's glasses, a symbol of science and discovery, play a crucial role in the story. For instance, the boys use them to harness the sun's rays and create fire, a pivotal moment in their survival. However, Piggy's vulnerability is exposed when the boys selfishly exploit his glasses for their own needs, highlighting their disregard for him as a person.
Piggy's real name is never revealed, and his nickname is a meaning to his body since his fatness and face represent an actual pig, and they are fat and weird-looking, a lot like Piggy himself. When he meets Ralph for the first time, he doesn't want to tell anyone his name for fear of being embarrassed and ashamed of how his school peers named and treated him. The real reason why Ralph cried at the end, as the narrator mentioned, is "the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy." It is believed that he may not be crying for Piggy, but that he never finds out what his name is; therefore, it is evident that Piggy's real name will forever remain a mystery to the reader.
Storyline[]
Arrival on the island[]
During an outbreak of a nuclear war, a group of British schoolboys are evacuated from England until their plane crashes on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, killing the pilot, but many of the young passengers survived.
Piggy walks from the crash site and spots a fair boy up as he heads to the lagoon. He begs him to wait for him and is not good at running through the jungle creepers.[1] When he catches up to the other boy, Piggy brushes off the thorns from his knees and asks what happened to the man with the megaphone. The fair boy thinks they are on an island. Piggy recalls how the pilot wasn't in the passenger cabin and hopes the other boys have survived.
When they approach the lagoon, Piggy asks if there are any adults. The fair boy replies no and then declares there are no adults. Piggy remembers that their plane was attacked and that he saw it on fire from his window. The fair boy wonders what happened to their plane, and Piggy says the storm dragged it out to sea. The fair boy introduces himself as Ralph, and Piggy waits for him to ask his name but doesn't. He asks Ralph if he has seen the other boys, but Ralph shakes his head and runs ahead until he trips over a branch.
Piggy catches up and says he cannot run because he has asthma and has been wearing glasses since he was three years old. After cleaning his glasses, Ralph gets up, and Piggy follows him to the lagoon. The shore has palm trees, coarse grass, and fallen trees with decaying fruit. Ralph takes off his shoes and clothes as Piggy emerges from the terrace and suggests they have a meeting with all the survivors and know their names. However, Piggy refuses to say what the boys call him at school, and Ralph gets curious until Piggy reveals his nickname. Ralph bursts out laughing and teases Piggy while prancing around. Piggy begs Ralph not to tell everyone about his nickname.
They arrive at the beach, where Ralph swims in the lagoon, excited about being alone without adults. Piggy removes his shorts and sits in the lagoon with the water at neck level. He finds the water too warm, and Ralph invites him to swim, but Piggy refuses because he cannot swim from asthma. Ralph says his father is a commander in the Navy, and he’ll soon rescue them. Piggy says his father is dead and used to live with his aunt, who owned a candy shop, and he was allowed to eat all the candy he wanted. He rises from the water and cleans his glasses with a sock. Ralph says that his father will know where they are from the airport, but Piggy replies that an atomic bomb exploded, possibly destroying humanity. He assumes they are on an island, and nobody knows they are here; they may even stay here until they’re dead.
The day gets hot, and Ralph asks Piggy to bring him his clothes. After he returns, Piggy says they should find the other boys. Ralph says nothing as a breeze blows on the beach, and he spots something creamy and shiny in the water. He thinks it’s a stone, but Piggy says it’s a conch shell and recalls how he knew someone who would blow into a conch shell to summon his mother. Ralph takes a sapling and poles at the conch. Piggy reminds him not to break it as he uses the sapling to push the conch towards the reeds until Piggy grabs it. He admires the conch before Ralph takes it. Piggy then tells Ralph that he should blow into it to summon all the boys onto the beach, but urges Ralph to blow it as he can’t do it from his asthma. Ralph tries the first blow but makes a farting noise, which the boys find funny. When Ralph blows into it again, it makes a loud, bellowing noise that echoes across the island. Ralph keeps on blowing until he loses his breath.
Piggy then notices a small, naked boy around six years old arriving on the beach, and Piggy helps him onto a platform. The little boy’s name is Johnny, and Ralph continues blowing. Voices are heard from the jungle and more boys emerge from the trees and approach the platform, where they sit on the trees trunks and wait for more. Piggy moves among the crowd, asking for their names. Some boys are naked and carrying their clothes, while others partially wear their school uniforms. A pair of twin boys arrive, who call themselves Samneric. Ralph finishes blowing, and the last boys to arrive are the choir boys and their leader. The choir leader asks where the man with the megaphone is, and Ralph replies that there isn’t, but he is the one who summoned the boys to the beach. One of the choir boys faints, and the choir leader says he has constant fits.
Piggy doesn’t ask for the choir boys’ names, and the choir leader, Jack Merridew, asks if adults are with them. Ralph replies there are none, and Piggy says that Ralph has called a meeting so they can figure out what they’ll do. Jack insults Piggy and calls him “fatty.” Ralph reveals his nickname to everyone, and all the boys laugh, leaving Piggy humiliated as he cleans his glasses. Afterwards, more boys say their names, such as Maurice, Bill, Robert, Harold and Henry. A private, mysterious boy is Roger, and the choir boy who fainted is Simon. Ralph then decides they need a chief to control the group. Jack wants to be chief, and Roger suggests they make a vote. Ralph and Jack are chosen as the top candidates, and Ralph wins the vote, making him the chief. Jack is humiliated by his defeat, and Ralph tells him he can be the leader of the choirboys. Jack suggests he and his choirboys will be hunters before they remove their cloaks. Ralph decides that he will choose two boys to join him on an expedition to figure out if they really are on an island. He chooses Jack and Simon, but Piggy insists he should come, too. Ralph says he isn’t fit for the expedition. Piggy says he should join him because he was the first to meet him and was with him when he blew the conch.
Ralph, Jack and Simon ignore him and leave the platform, walking down the beach. Ralph again tells Piggy he can’t come, and Piggy says he’s ashamed that he revealed his nickname to the boys. Ralph shows sympathy and decides Piggy should still be called by his nickname, making him return to the group to take more names.
After Ralph returns from the expedition, he blows the conch, and everyone gathers on the platform.[2] The afternoon sun slants on the platform, and most of the boys have put their clothes back on. Ralph is silent, unsure if he should stand or sit. Piggy sits beside him but doesn’t help him. Ralph then clears his throat and explains fluently that he discovers they are on an uninhabited island. They find pigs, and Ralph decides the hunters will hunt them for food and says that because no adults are with them, they will have to look after themselves. The group is silent briefly. Ralph decides nobody should be talking at once, and whoever holds the conch has the right to speak. Jack interrupts, saying they should have rules, and the boys make noises. Piggy takes the conch, and everyone goes quiet again. He wipes his glasses and says that nobody knows where they are, and they may be here for a long time. Ralph takes the conch and says it’s a good island and they should have fun, as in various island stories. The boys shout names of the stories, such as Treasure Island and Coral Island. Ralph waves the conch for silence and says that until they are rescued, they will have a good time.
Jack says there are pigs, food and a stream for bathing. A small, frightened six-year-old boy with a mulberry birthmark is pushed towards Ralph by the other small boys. Ralph urges him to speak, and Piggy tells him to give him the conch. The boy takes the conch, and after Piggy listens closely to him, he asks Ralph what he will do with a “snake-thing” or beastie in the forest, causing the group to stir restlessly. Ralph says these creatures aren’t on the island, but Piggy explains that the boy claims the “beastie” came from the dark. The boys laugh and comment about the beast, and the older boys agree that he must have had a nightmare. Ralph insists there isn’t a beast, and Jack takes the conch, saying that if there is a “beastie,” they will hunt and kill it. Ralph repeatedly says there isn’t a beast until the assembly becomes silent. He receives the conch and says that they want to have fun and be rescued, explaining that his father is in the Navy and that the island they’re stuck on must be mapped, and before long, they will be found and rescued. The boys applaud his speech until Ralph orders silence and suggests they should make a signal fire on the beach so its smoke can attract passing ships to save them. The boys immediately jump to their feet and follow Jack as they run off. Ralph tries to call for silence but is left alone with Piggy.
Piggy scornfully berates the boys’ behaviour and wonders what they’ll do on the mountain. Ralph suddenly runs off toward the “scar” on the island, and Piggy watches him in disgust before he takes the conch and heads the same route. The boys collect some wood and bring them to the mountaintop, where Piggy joins them. Ralph asks if he has any matches to light the fire, and Jack suddenly snatches Piggy’s glasses. Ralph uses them to ignite the sunlight onto the wood until a trickle of smoke appears, followed by a small flame after Jack blows the smoke. The boys cheer, and Piggy demands his glasses back. The fire quickly grows to 20 feet and spreads through a forest of trees. Ralph demands more wood, and the boys hurry to fetch more until exhausted.
Ralph is disbelieved that they only made fire instead of smoke. Jack is frustrated by the boys’ lack of effort, and Simon points out how the glasses nearly helped. Piggy tries to speak, but Jack tells him to shut up and says the conch doesn’t work on the mountain. Ralph takes the conch and explains that everyone should be responsible for watching the signal fire and have more rules. Everyone agrees with him, and Jack says he and his hunters will monitor the signal fire. If they spot a ship on the horizon, he assures them they will make the smoke bigger. Roger says he doesn’t see a ship, and Ralph insists they should be patient. Piggy takes the conch and whines about what he’s talking about. He admits to their failure as the fire and smoke continues to spread in the jungle. He says they can do nothing about the burning flames now, and they need to be careful next time. He admits that he’s scared, and Jack mocks him, and some of the boys start laughing. Piggy loses his temper and berates them for acting like kids, not focusing on important tasks, and recklessly handling the signal fire. He questions them about how they will be rescued, even debates how long they can survive on the island while it’s burning, and notices they don’t know how many young boys there are. Ralph yells at him that he is supposed to keep track of their names, and Piggy says he can’t keep track of all of them as they quickly spread out over the island before he can identify each of them. Then he talks about how some littluns ran away when the older boys arrived. He points out that some of the younger boys were playing down in the jungle area where the fire spread, pointing to a patch of jungle consumed by flames. Then, he becomes shocked and asks where the boy with the mulberry birthmark is, and he mentions he was in the jungle area where the fire is. The boys look at each other fearfully, asking where he went. Ralph mutters about where he could be but stays silent as the fire continues to burn.
Life on the Island[]
The boys adjust to life on the island as time passes.[3] They awake to sweet scents and a brightened sun in the morning. When afternoon arrives, it gets too hot, so the boys spend their time napping in the shade. They occasionally see strange shadows in the water, and Piggy dismisses it as just sunlight. At night, the boys retire to their shelters but experience restlessness and terror throughout the whole evening. The youngest boys are now called “littluns” and spend all their time playing and swimming. They also feel sick with stomach cramps and diarrhea from eating wild fruit. They bother the older boys, now called “biguns,” but obey Ralph when he calls for them with the conch.
One day, Ralph emerges from the bathing pool and sits in the shade. Piggy rambles around, picking up anything he finds and discards them. He is the only boy on the island whose hair didn’t grow long. He sees Ralph and sits beside him, suggesting they can make a sundial in the sand. Ralph sourly grumbles that they should build a TV set, an airplane or a steam engine. Piggy reminds him that they don’t have metal ingredients but have some sticks. Ralph smiles at him, and Piggy thinks he’s being friendly to him, as all the other boys shun him. Piggy says they have enough sticks to build a sundial, which Ralph wants so they will be rescued.
Ralph jumps into the pool to swim when he stares at the horizon and suddenly calls to Piggy that he sees a ship. Piggy rubs his glasses and squints at the horizon but sees no smoke. However, there is a ship with smoke on the horizon, and Piggy looks in the ship’s direction before glancing back at the mountain. He asks Ralph if there’s smoke on the mountain, but Ralph doesn’t respond. His eyes are anxiously fixed on the ship, and he dashes toward the scar, with Simon, Maurice, and Piggy running after him. Piggy reaches the mountaintop, where Ralph is furious that the signal fire has been burnt out, and the ship quickly disappears from view. Jack, Samneric and the hunters approach the fire, with Jack leading the procession and the twins carrying a stake with a pig carcass tied to it. They chant, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.”
Jack reaches the mountain and excitedly boasts to Ralph that he finally caught a pig. Ralph angrily tells him that he let the fire go out, and Jack says they could just relight it again. Ralph says there had been a ship on the horizon, and Jack and the hunters were responsible for watching the signal fire. Now the ship is gone and has dashed their hopes of being rescued. Piggy berates Jack for his constant hunting, and Ralph also scolds Jack for not helping him build shelters. Jack says that he needs to hunt so everyone will have meat. Piggy whines to Jack that he shouldn’t have let the fire go out, and the hunters yell in agreement. Jack then loses his temper, punches Piggy in the stomach, and then smacks his head, causing Piggy’s glasses to fly off and hit against some rocks. He frantically searches for them until Simon finds them and notices one side is broken. Piggy puts them back on and can now see through only one eye, warning Jack before he stumbles away. Ralph then borrows his glasses to light the signal fire.
Later that night, the boys gather around the fire as Jack cuts the carcass apart. When they couldn’t roast the whole pig over the fire, they skewered pieces of the pigs with some sticks. The boys are given one portion, and Piggy asks for one, but Jack refuses. Simon gives his piece of meat to Piggy, but Jack throws some meat at Simon, ordering him to eat it. Jack and the hunters reenact the hunting expedition, and Ralph furiously and quietly calls for a meeting on the beach.
After Ralph blows the conch, everyone gathers on the platform at the beach.[4] Piggy stands outside the triangle, indicating he will listen but won’t speak. Ralph announces that they need an assembly and they must put things straight. Piggy then tiptoes into the triangle as Ralph complains about how they make plans that never come to fruition, such as the shelters and where the boys go to relieve themselves. Piggy reaches out for the conch, but Ralph refuses as he explains that the signal fire is the most important priority and must always be lit on the mountain to increase their chances of rescue. He also explains that everything was going well and suddenly, everyone has become terrified. He says they should resolve their fears and decide what to do. He finishes his speech and Jack takes the conch, berating the littleluns for their fear of the beast, even calling them sissies and crybabies. He claims he has been all over the island and would have seen the beast, but didn’t see it in the forest.
Piggy takes the conch and disagrees with everything Jack has said or how fear is discussed. He orders some littleluns to be quiet and says there is nothing to fear in the forest, as he was alone there the other time and hopes someone could put it right. He thinks there isn’t fear, unless they get frightened of other people. Several boys start laughing and mocking him. Piggy asks the littlelun who spoke about the beast to come forward and speak up. The littleluns chatter as one of them stands up and Piggy asks his name. The boy’s name is Phil, who takes the conch and says that he had a nightmare when he was fighting “twisty things” in the trees. They disappeared when he woke up and finds himself standing outside his shelter in the dark. Ralph assures him he had a nightmare and was sleepwalking, but Phil insists he saw the “twisty things” fighting when he was asleep, and then saw something moving in the forest. Ralph asks if anyone was in the forest last night, and Simon stands up. He takes the conch and says he went into the forest the other night to visit a place he knows. Ralph tells him not to go into the forest after dark again, and after the assembly becomes silent, Piggy tells Ralph there is another littlelun who wants to talk.
A littlelun named Percival is pushed forward, and Ralph tells Piggy to ask his name. Piggy asks the boy’s name, but he runs to his shelter. Ralph asks his name aloud, and the boys start chanting until Ralph orders them to be quiet. Percival then reveals his full name and home address, but starts crying when he’s about to say his phone number. Ralph tries to make him quiet, and all the littleluns start crying, too, until one of the boys, Maurice, pretends to fall over and causing all the boys to laugh. Jack seizes Percival and shakes him, demanding him where the beast lives. Percival mutters a reply and Jack tells everyone that the beast comes from the sea. Everyone starts arguing again, until Maurice is given the conch and says he doesn’t believe in the beast. But when Simon takes the conch, he admits that there may be a beast within them. Ralph asks him how he knows about this and Piggy doesn’t believe him. One of the boys thinks what Simon said was just a ghost.
Piggy takes the conch and says he doesn’t believe in ghosts. Jack gets angry and says he doesn’t care. Everyone starts fighting over the conch until Ralph wrestles it away and says it isn’t worth it discussing ghosts. He then calls on a vote on who believes in ghosts, and in the darkness, almost everyone raises their hands. Piggy snatches the conch and says that he didn’t vote for ghosts. He turns to the assembly and complains what the adults would think of them hunting pigs, starting fires and believing in ghosts. Jack yells at Piggy to shut up and fights with him over the conch. Ralph begs Jack to stop, and Jack tells him to shut up, too. Ralph and Jack start arguing about the rules, and Jack mocks the rules and vows to hunt the beast before running down the beach. All the boys yell and scream as they follow Jack.
Piggy wonders what the adults will think as Ralph takes the conch and they hear loud mocking and laughter. Piggy encourages him to blow the conch, reminds him about the fire and persuades him to be tough. Ralph replies that if he blows the conch, the boys won’t come, and they should just give up bring rescued. Piggy says they will still be stranded if he doesn’t call them. The boys come together and start chanting as Ralph prepares to blow into the conch, but asks Piggy if ghosts or beasts really exist. Piggy says that it doesn’t make sense and Ralph suggests they are waiting for them on the island, which causes him to shudder violently.
Piggy begs Ralph not to talk about that as they have other things to worry about. Ralph wants to give up his position as chief, but Piggy urges him not to, and points out that if Jack was chief, he would cause chaos on the island. They also won’t have a fire and they will all die. Simon appears and Ralph again insists he wants to step down. Piggy asks what would happen if Ralph gives up, but Ralph doesn’t respond. Piggy says that Jack hates him but he respects Ralph.
Simon persuades Ralph to keep his position, and Ralph tells him to shut up. Ralph asks Piggy why he won’t talk about the beast, and Piggy replies that he’s scared of Jack, who also hates Ralph, mainly due to his jealously that Ralph is the leader. Piggy even thinks that while Jack won’t harm Ralph, he may harm Piggy if Ralph stands out of the way. Simon agrees with Piggy and again urges Ralph to stay as chief. Ralph laments that everything is going wrong and wishes they have adults with them. The boys finish dancing and the hunters head to their shelters. Piggy explains that adults know everything, and he, Ralph and Simon comment on their successes. They hear wailing in the darkness, and the three boys huddle each other in fear.
The Beast[]
The wailing is from Percival in his sleep.[5]After he calms down, Ralph and Simon carry Percival to a shelter, and they huddle inside a shelter with Piggy, laying on a pile of dry leaves. They watch the stars and hear a littlun cry and bigun speak, before they fall asleep. Throughout the night, an air battle occurs in the sky. A dead parachutist falls from one of the planes, and the wind blows the body onto the beach, across the lagoon, and up the mountain where it gets tangled in some vines. The wind causes the body to sway back and forth. Samneric, now in charge of the signal fire, are sleeping by the burnt pieces of wood and are the first to find the parachutist’s body.
Terrified, Samneric rush back to the beach and wake Ralph up, saying they saw the beast. Piggy bumps into Ralph and a twin grabs him, begging him not to go anywhere and asking for the spears. Piggy calms them down, and he, Ralph and Simon are silent but filled with dread as the twins describe what they have seen. Ralph asks them to call for an assembly quietly, and the frightened twins spread the news as Ralph heads to the platform with Piggy, Simon and several other boys.