What Is Piggy's Broken Glasses Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, are stranded on an island without any adults. They have to create a new civilization, but will it fail? Piggy’s specs are the symbol of deterioration of civilization. The glasses are at first used to start a fire, then become slightly broken, and finally completely broken. Starting a fire is essential for a civilization. Firstly, towards the beginning of the book, Piggy’s specs symbolize how civilization is just beginning on the island. After taking Piggy’s glasses, Ralph begins to use the lenses as a way to start a fire. Golding states, “Ralph moved the lenses back and forth… The flame flapped higher and the boys broke into a cheer” (38). To obtain a fire is a magnificent step towards the building of a civilization, for it is extremely crucial for survival. The boys’ cheer at the emergence of the

After being savagely attacked by Jack’s band of barbarians, Piggy’s specs break. As Golding expresses, “Then there was a vicious snarling in the mouth...” (152). Ralph confirms, “That was Jack and his hunters” (152). Jack held “Piggy’s broken glasses” (153), for he and his merry men have succumbed to being vicious savages, even before the immediate break of the glasses. Jack’s savage-like disorderly conduct, before the initial break of the specs, shows that he didn't intend on breaking them, but instead wanted to take them. His tactics of invasion are as barbaric as the Visigoths invading Rome. Jack and his men resemble the Visigoths and Ralph and his men resemble Rome, for Ralph, tries to act civilized but Jack intends on invasion. The break of the glasses is as iconic and as important of a symbol of civilization as the architectural marvels that stood for centuries and were destroyed by the barbarians. Since the specs symbolize civilization, for Jack to attack others and have the glasses break, civilization, itself, has