Piggy's Glasses In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

"We have now left reason and sanity junction. Next stop, Looneyville." (Jim Butcher). Madness begins as soon as sanity ends. In "Lord of The Flies" by William Golding, Piggy's glasses start by symbolizing sanity, but slightly change throughout the novel to symbolize their civilization. To begin with, Golding uses Piggy's glasses to symbolize that the boys are in a sane state of mind. Golding portrays the children are in a sane state of mind through the quote, "Piggy shook his head, put on his flashing glasses, and looked down at Ralph" (Golding 14). The spectacles were in ultimate condition like the youngsters. The boys were still acting like mature adults at this point. The better shape the glasses are in, the better the boys are acting. At this time they are not going mad and murdering. Similarly, Golding symbolizes Piggy's spectacles as how sane the group is, but they are starting to go insane. Golding portrays the idea of sane being taken back and forth between the boys: " Ralph went to Piggy and took the glasses from him" (72). The children are no longer all at their customary state of mind. They are slowly between each other going crazy. Ralph and Jack have split apart, making the other boys no longer have a normal perception of what to do or think.

The deeper the reader gets into the book the less and less civilized the lads get. Golding shows the adolescents are acting more wild and less civilized the longer they are on the island: " Piggy took off his one round of glass and polished it" (124). Piggy's spectacles are broken, but not only broken, grubby too. The glasses would not be broken in the first place if they were civilized. Jack's group would not have broken them if they were as civil as they were to start off with when they were sane. Every time, part of his glasses break, they get less