Piggy

• Lord of the Flies

  A story surrounding a group of young boys who find themselves stranded on a deserted island without any adults
• Story follows


  1. Their struggle to survive

  2. Their attempts to stay connected to society which ultimately fails

  3. Many of the boys fall into savagery
• Novel


  • Contains many contrasting characters
  • Golding uses these to develop the symbolism and meaning of the story
• Piggy


  A character who evokes a strong feeling of sympathy in the reader
• Techniques Golding uses to create these feelings


  1. Characterization

  2. Theme

  3. Use of a key incident
• Piggy


  • Instantly marked as vulnerable and open to torment
  • Inferior to the other boys in something as basic as breathing
  • Represents the calm and order found in society
  • Genuinely good but disconnected from his supposed 'friends'
  • Unforgiving death reveals how far gone the boys are
  • All he wanted was for everyone to have peace and to get home to his family
• Piggy: '"on account of my asthma"'
• Piggy's intelligence was superior to the other boys
• Piggy's physical traits


  Metaphor to show how he is disconnected from the other long-haired boys and their savage ways
• Golding: '"The true wise friend called Piggy"'
• Piggy dies without ever getting to share his real name, only a debilitating and cruel nickname
• Piggy symbolizes everything good in society with his strong connection to civilization and good morals
• Piggy's forceful death demonstrates the darkness which lies deep in everyman's heart