Piggy

* 1963
* 1990

*Lord of the Flies* (1990)

Danuel Pipoly (1990)

Ralph (close ally)

### Personalities

Intellectual, weak, shy, whiny, annoying, loyal, awkward, wise, sensible, obedient, faithful, helpful, mature, lazy, organizing, moral, talkative, independent, civilized

### Allies

Ralph
Samneric
Simon
The littleluns (formerly)

The biguns (formerly)

### Enemies

Jack
Roger

The Hunters

### Dislikes

His nickname, losing his glasses, not being picked to explore the island

### Goal

To assist Ralph into working hard to maintain a civilized society
To reprimand the boys from becoming savages
 To assist the plans to be saved (all failed)

### Fate

Killed by a boulder pushed by Roger while trying to stay civilized

### Famous quotes

"We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?"

> "*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. But he lacks the power of being a leader since he has no leadership requirements and relies too much on power, such as 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 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's rays to produce fire and find out how to make their own fire from scratch without using the necessary tools. But Piggy is completely helpless without them, and the boys act selfishly toward 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 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. And 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'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.

## 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.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 a d Ralph invites him to swim, but Piggy refuses as he cannot swim from his 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 wants. 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 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 of the boys are naked and carrying their clothes, while the others are partially wearing 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 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 they’re are adults with them. Ralph replies they 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 burst out laughing, 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.