Civility or Savagery “Which is better, law and rescue or hunting and breaking things up?”(180). This question holds true today and a thin line between the needs to survive and savagery is drawn when a group of boys are trapped on an island, away from all civilization. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies uses characters like Piggy to symbolize order, when ignored and destroyed by the other boys who, together, fall into a mob mentality of anarchy, makes it impossible for order and civility to be established. Piggy is a symbol of insight, as he advised Ralph throughout the book, but the other boys exploited his insight; he was the first to identify the conch, the boys used his glasses to make the fire, he honored the rules of the conch, but ultimately Piggy’s ideas were used against him. …show more content…
He is the only one who makes ideas and keeps the rules of the conch, this suggests that intelligence is needed to have order. This also indicates that without these rules, order cannot be established, and this “fun” is just anarchy. This is why when the conch dies, Piggy dies, for there can’t be any order without intelligence. This becomes evident when Ralph realizes that “there was no Piggy to talk sense…no dignity of the conch”(196). Golding also uses this to suggest that order is a choice, and when majority ignores it, it cannot be placed in an efficient