Symbolic Characters in Lord of The Flies: Piggy-Intellect and Rationalism

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Symbolic Characters in Lord of the Flies

attribute to the greatness and success of the novel.
4. PiggyIntellect and Rationalism:
William Golding says that Piggy is the incarnation of of intellect and rationalism. Piggy
firstly senses the He firstly senses the gravity of their life on the island. He uses three
words of death in succession when Ralph takes it for granted that they are going to be
rescued soon. First of all he suggests that they shold gather all the scattered boys on the
island. He informs him about conch and teaches the ways of bowling to Ralph. Piggy
recognizes this reality that life demands us to make certain choices and set priorities in
life. Piggy suggest to light a small smoke and to avoid the danger of setting fire on the
forest and the necessary wood for the signal fire when they firstly light the signal fire, but
the enthusiastic action engulfs his advice. Piggy even thinks about creating a sundial by
which they can know time. Piggy takes a scientific and rational attitude towards life.
When all were fearing of beasts Piggy was the one who says that life is scientific.
Piggy was a forsighted person, he could see things very clearly as they will be. He
suggests that fear of the people is the real fear. Piggy suggests the real fear is the fear of
people. He could sense the evil people but he was not in a position to do anything. When
the hunters worship their Godthe lord of the flies, it is science and rationalism that
keeps him away from participating in the superstition of the other boys and keep him
standing with Ralph. What is important is that he believes that most people, given the
chance, are as sensible as him.In the period of overwhelming war, Piggys confidence is
as strong as that of an old man. He always stands with Ralph and he believes the
confidence of Ballantyne.
Piggys near-sight suggests that his intelligence is limited. Simon is aware that man is
heroic and sick, but for Piggy man is not ill, man just has a foolish but corrigible habit of
afollowing Jack (fascist) if Jack should be taking Piggys sensible advice. He does not
realize that fascism overcomes and will kill anything they want to. Piggy is like a
sacrificial pig pierced on the sharpen stick since anarchy and animalism is in dominion.
There is no rescue.
1. Roger Brutality and Bloodlust:
Roger is the character whom Golding presents as the 'darkness of man's heart' which the
novel is so interested in. When he was first introduced, he's marked out as a "dark" figure
from the word go:
There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner
intensity of avoidance and secrecy. He muttered that his name was Roger and was silent
again.
What 'secret' does Roger hold? From inside, he is sadistic. He loves to cause pain to other
boys.another key moment comes when Roger is throwing stones at the littlun Henry,
hiding behind a tree:
Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not
throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child
was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Rogers arm was
conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.
Roger in the beginging of the novel is accustomed by the civilized rules of the outer
world but as the novel goes on his sadistic attituted becomes more clear. When sow was
murdered, Roger ran aroung the heap, prodding with his spear whenever pigflesh
appeared. Jack was stabbing the sow, he was on the top,
Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his
whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified crying became a
highpitched scream.
Roger's spear, we later find out, has gone 'right up her ass'. It's a brutal act: and it's
echoed later in his murder of Piggy (when he leans on the lever and tips the rock with
'delirious abandonment') and his eventual role as Jack's chief torturer (Samneric describe
him as a 'terror').
Roger is the symbol of blackness within. He loves his sadistic attitude. He is not a
persong from the civilized world, he is brutal, torturous and pain causing boy.
MAURICE:
Maurice is one of the many Biguns who become members of Jacks tribe. He is one of
those characters in the novel who believed that evil lurks out when it gets conducive
envoirnment. Maurice offers to accompany Jack when he decided to raid Ralphs camp in
order to snatch away Piggys specticles. .
i. ROBERT:
Robert demonstrates a transition from a blend of good and evil to complete evil. Under
the influence of Jack and Robert whatever goodness existed in his nature faded away. He
becomes a member of Jacks tribe of savages who have bidden good-bye to civilization
and have adopted to a primitive mode of life.
2. SAMNERIC the Twins: Loss of Identity

Twins Sameneric in "Lord of the Flies," symbolsise the loss of identity that occurs when
one is overcome by fear. The loss of individuality is very apparent in the novel as the two
characters act at the same time and respond to a name that is a mixture of their individual
names. An additional symbolic meaning for the characters is that the combination
represents the everyday man as we wish him to be, with the twins portrayed as "kind,
loyal and generous."
Sam and Eric are twins, who later on was called Samneric by Jack and everyone else.
Jack threatened and pressured Samneric to know Ralph's hiding place, betraying Ralph.
"[Although] even after they are forced to follow Jack, they remain loyal to Ralph by
sneaking him food and by hiding him from the others when they are on guard. They
were seen as a whole and not for their individuality because they act alike and as one,
they breathed together, they grinned together, they were chunky and vital. (18) .
Brotherhood "This notion of brother turning against brother can be applied to the boys
as a whole. Many of the arguments against war are based on the fact that it is unnatural
and wrong for members of the same species to attack and kill one another. Piggy is very
upset at Sam and Erics fighting because they are brothers." They symbolize innocence
They respect & follow the older boys and become essential supporters toward Ralph and
Jack Human Nature In the real world .. they represent the mass of society and the lower
class. They are conformists of society that do not speak out or question authority. Since
there very young, they dont know most of the things happening around them. They do
whatever they are told to do by the older boys without questioning.
The Littlins:
The littl'uns most of the times grouped as one. They represent different stages of of
unrestrained fear and innocence. Little Henry represents the trusting stage of innocence
as he sits alone on the beach, transfixed by the tiny creatures who venture onto the shore.
When stones land near him, he does not cry or run, for he has no knowledge of the evil in
man's heart as represented by Roger, who throws the stones to terrorize him. In contrast
to Henry, Percival Wemys Madison represents the terror of innocence when faced with
strange unknowns. When he believes that he sees the beast in the ocean, he breaks down
and cries. As his fear of the unknown overpowers him, he cries all the time, he is so
shaken that he cannot even recall his own name.
Another character, Johnny, represents the argumentative child. Robert, who is not quite a
"big'un," represents the younger boy who wants to be accepted by the older ones, the
hunters; however, when he pretends to be a boar so they can practice the hunt, he is hurt
as the dance excites the others to wildness. Finally, the boy with the mulberry birthmark,
who disappears one night may represent the loss of innocence on the island.
3. NAVEL OFFICER:
The naval officer in the novel has two major functions: he is a representative of the adult
world and a representative of the world war that is devouring the outside world.
He at first acts as a symbolic marker to show how far the boys have fallen from the
heights of civilization. It is clear too from what he says that he has not yet learnt the
lesson that Ralph and the other boys have learnt, concerning the "end of innocence." He
thinks what the boys were doing was "fun and games" and then expresses disappointment
in the boys' inability to "put up a better show" in the way that they survived as being on
the island.
At the same time we see that navel officer is described with his revolver and also the ship
with its sub machine gun ironically identifies that the so-called "civilized" world that the
boys are returning to be, is just as violent and bloody as their savage primitive world.
This reinforces the central message of Golding as he demonstrates the way in which
civilization acts as nothing more than a very thin layer that just covers the barbaric
reality of human nature.
At the end of the story we see that the once happy and lucky Ralph weeps for the "end of
innocence." A coming of age story almost by necessity must include a representative
from the adult world. The first representation is the dead man with a parachute, who
instead of creating order, creates more chaos. The second is the naval officer who
seemingly rescues the boys from their own destruction. He sees the savages as little
boys, and ironically teases them about playing war. He threatens them by telling them
that as English boys they should have done better. The events that the boys have been
involved in sharply contrast the officer's perspective of them as children who play
together.
It is not a coincidene that the man who rescues the boys is not a common man, he is an
officer of the war. Golding all the times in this novel reminds that there is not mahor
difference between the adults and the children living on that island, both handel their
issue in the same way. The world is represented through this novel at a micro level. The
adults are not leading a peaceful life, they all are engaged in their own wars, and the
military uniform of the naval officer is a reminder of that. The officer's eyes rest on the
cruiser in the ocean. What does it mean? Does it meand that the boys are rescued? Are
they rescued to enter in another war which is more devastating than that on the island?

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Symbolic Characters in Lord of the Flies

2. SAMNERIC the Twins: Loss of Identity

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