piggy Flashcards
“Which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?”
In his final confrontation with the boys, Piggy desperately asks ‘which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?’. The rhetorical question, posed with urgent simplicity, is a final appeal to reason and order. The juxtaposition between ‘rules’ and ‘hunt’ symbolises the broader ideological clash between civilisation and savagery. Here, Golding uses Piggy as the mouthpiece of Enlightenment values, but with the lack of response or care from the boys underscores the trajectory of the novel: rationality cannot withstand the seductive pull of power, violence and fear. It is clear that Piggy’s moral clarity, though admirable, is powerless in the face of collective brutality.
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy”
When Ralph sees the officer, a moment of deus ex machina, he ‘wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy’. The tricolon structure underscores the emotional weight of this epiphany- moving from a loss of childhood ‘innocence’ to an abstract recognition of intrinsic evil, and finally to a deeply personal grief. It is clear that the rescue is not a moment of unequivocal joy as one might expect. The poetic phrasing of ‘fall through the air’ softens Piggy’s brutal death, mirroring society’s tendency to mask violence behind euphemism. Moreover, the abstract noun ‘darkness’ connotes to something hidden, mysterious and corrupt, while ‘heart’ (often associated with emotion and humanity) becomes a site of corruption- not just on the surface, but innately within them.
“The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist”
Golding portrays the breakdown of civilisation through the symbolic destruction of order when ‘the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist’. The ‘conch’, a powerful motif of democratic governance and structured communication, is violently shattered at the same moment Piggy is killed- suggesting that the physical death of logic is paralleled by the ideological death of order. The adjective ‘white’, symbolic of purity and innocence, being reduced to ‘fragments’ reflects the disintegration of societal rules. Meanwhile the hyperbole of ‘a thousand fragments’ evokes an irreversible rupture, not only of the object, but of the group’s last link to democratic values. Perhaps, through this metaphorical explosion, Golding is conveying his pessimistic view that civilisation is fragile and easily destroyed when confronted with humankind’s innate savagery. It is also key to note that when the ‘rock struck Piggy’ it was only a ‘glancing blow’, where the indifference of the verb ‘glancing’ acknowledges Piggy’s death as unimportant and normalised.
“It was an accident… and that’s that.”
The statement ‘It was an accident…and that’s that’ captures the boys’ desperate attempt to repress guilt. The repetition and ellipsis suggest hesitation and a weak internal struggle between moral responsibility and self-preservation. By brushing off Simon’s death with ‘and that’s that’, they choose denial over accountability- perhaps highlighting Golding’s idea that evil isn’t always dramatic or monstrous, but is often ordinary, hidden behind excuses and refusal to accept blame. This is emphasised through the term ‘accident’, which is deliberately chosen to minimise Simon’s murder, suggesting that the boys’ are consciously reframing reality to absolve guilt. This directly contradicts the brutal nature of Simon’s death with the innocence implied by ‘accident’, highlighting how violence can be easily dismissed as something unintended when there are no consequences.
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?”
Piggy’s rhetorical question (‘What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?’) helps to build tension by escalating through a hierarchy of civilisation. The list foreshadows the boys’ moral decline throughout the book- they are ‘humans’ at the beginning, ‘animals’ in the middle, and ‘savages’ at the end, structuring the novel’s trajectory. The question itself suggests uncertainty and fear, revealing how the boys have lost their grip on their own identity. It is clear they are not just unsure of their morality, but their entire sense of self. This directly links Piggy to his role as the voice of reason, where his question contrasts with the boys who blindly embrace savagery.
“Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains”
The juxtaposition between Piggy’s physical appearance and his intellect reflects the boys’ failure to value substance over surface. Despite being described as having a ‘ludicrous body,’ Piggy ‘had brains,’ a phrase that emphasizes how the boys unfairly judge him by his physicality while overlooking his logical mind. The adjective ‘ludicrous’ further reinforces this societal prejudice, showing how intelligence is often ignored in favour of charisma or appearance. Golding uses this to critique the superficiality of social hierarchies, where true value and capability are easily dismissed.
