ipl-logo

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

889 Words4 Pages

“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (204). In William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies, a plane carrying British boys is shot down over the Pacific. Many of the boys survive the crash, the pilot does not, and they find themselves stranded on a deserted island stranded with no adult supervision. On the island the boys recreate the culture they left behind by electing a leader named Ralph. Another character, Jack who wants to be a leader, slowly drives the boys from civilization and many rules to savagery which causes the death of two main characters, Piggy and Simon. Golding shows that humankind embraces their cruel, savage, and barbaric nature when not guided by civilization. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding uses several symbols to portray how evil will overcome …show more content…

Because Piggy is one of the more intelligent boys on the island, he knows, recognizes, and understands some of the things the other boys don’t. Ralph being the leader amongst the boys orders the them to make signal fire so ships will see the smoke and they will be rescued. They make the signal fire by using Piggy’s glasses as a source of technology. “His specs- use them as burning glasses” (40). The glasses later become a harmful source when they are misused by Jack. “He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (168). The glasses were stolen by ‘Jacks Troop’ to have power and control. The boys use the glasses as a source to keep the fire going, but once the group splits up, they fight each other for possession of the glasses. Piggy's glasses can be used to help mankind or ruin it. Golding's use Piggy’s Glasses to portray when people are not guided by civilization they turn cruel and do things they would never do in

Show More
Related
282 Words | 2 Pages

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding has many symbols within it, but the strongest and biggest symbol is Piggy’s glasses because them being stolen from him marked a significant change in their behaviors from civil to savage and they were the reason the fire was made that led to their rescue. Towards the end of the book, Jack and a few others stole Piggy’s glasses from him with brute force. Not only did this action make Piggy useless, but it gave the most powerful thing on the island to the most corrupt and savage boy. When Jack attacked the shelter, “Ralph and Piggy’s corner became a complication of snarls and crashes and flying limbs,” (Golding 167) proving that Jack was far from civil in his way of obtaining the glasses. This moment

Read More
413 Words | 2 Pages

Ralph and Jack were trying to start a fire on the mountain when Jack had the idea of using Piggy’s glasses. “His specs-use them as burning glasses” (Golding 40) Piggy’s glasses symbolizes power and a connection to humanity. The boys used his glasses several times throughout the book to start signal fires. The glasses signified humanity and a connection to the real world.

Read More
1279 Words | 6 Pages

Piggy’s glasses are used to light the fire. Even though he can not see that well without them, he still usually gives them up very easily when they need to start the fire. “‘I’ll come too.’” (Golding 73) In this paragraph, Ralph takes Piggy’s glasses and says that he will bring them back.

Read More
1148 Words | 5 Pages

Ralph, Jack, and Piggy have differing reactions and feelings towards the glasses that progress and change throughout the book. Piggy views his glasses as a way of protection. Without his glasses, he can’t really see. “‘Jus’ blurs, that’s all.

Read More
323 Words | 2 Pages

Piggy's glasses are an important factor of this novel and its importance changes a lot. In the book piggy talks about how they keep on taking his glasses and it foreshadows that the glasses are becoming more valuable than piggy. When the glasses break they fall down on rocks which foreshadow what will happen to Piggy when he dies. In the beginning of the novel his glasses represent his physical weakness, his intelligence, and towards the end when they figure out that the glasses can start a fire the glasses become a symbol of power. As the book goes on the glasses become more and more important and they eventually help them get saved.

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

In the story, Jack has created his own society that focuses on hunting. One night, he and some of his followers sneak out to steal Piggy’s glasses. They fight Ralph and Piggy but come out victorious. Jack is now seen as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (168).

Read More
1577 Words | 7 Pages

At the beginning of the story, Piggy’s glasses represent logic and intelligence on the island since Piggy was tied to the outside world and had the most common sense out of the boys. However, the glasses were not only used by Piggy. For instance, Jack blurted out, “‘His specs— use them as burning glasses.’ Ralph moved the lenses back and forth… till an image of the declining sun lay on a piece of rotting wood’’ ( 40-41 ). To elaborate, Jack’s idea of using the lenses on the glasses shows how the boy’s, mostly Piggy’s intelligence helps them surging on the island.

Read More
406 Words | 2 Pages

(page 18) The entire time they are trapped on the island, Ralph is determined to get rescued. He views a fire with a smoke signal to be the only way to be saved. Piggy's glasses are the only way the boys know to start a fire so this give him some degree of importance.

Read More
1217 Words | 5 Pages

Part of Piggy’s appearance is his glasses, and they constantly get Piggy harassed or bullied, Without the aid of his glasses, Piggy is practically blind, and as a metaphorical aspect, Golding tries to tell us that Piggy is blind to the word if he isn’t wearing his glasses. When Jack constantly hits Piggy and ends up cracking the lenses of the glasses, Jack is breaking apart of Piggy; Jack is taking parts of Piggy and shattering them, making it almost impossible for Piggy to see what is going on around him. In another perspective, Piggy uses his glasses almost as a safety net, relying on them to help him survive and get through the rough times. When the boys realize this, they start taking his glasses from him to light the fire without even asking for Piggy’s permission, Jack starts slapping Piggy which breaks the glasses and causes Piggy to

Read More
922 Words | 4 Pages

William Golding’s Use of Rhetorical Strategies to Illustrate Society in “Lord of the Flies” Written in the 1950’s by William Golding, Lord of the Flies is a novel that follows a group of young boys,stranded on an island with no contact to an adult world. Throughout the novel Golding elicits how savage humans can be when there is no authority controlling them, and Golding’s use of thematic vocabulary conveys how power and corruption can lead to a dismantling of order. As a result, this disruption in society causes people to reveal their true savage human nature. In Chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies, William Golding employs repetition, diction and symbolism to convey the theme that civilization has become a shield that conceals humanity 's natural wildness and savagery.

Read More
630 Words | 3 Pages

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is about a group of young boys, aged around 6-12, that crash land on an uninhabited island, and without adults, they fail miserably. In E.L Epstein’s article “NOTES ON LORD OF THE FLIES” Golding reveals in his novel that the flaws in human nature lead to a flawed society; which is seen in society (Epstein par. 3). Lord of the Flies provides an example of how imperfections in human nature start to surface when people are in a groups. One imperfection is their tendency to do violent and demeaning things as a mob.

Read More
519 Words | 3 Pages

(34) When Piggy did this, it showed that he perceives that he is smarter than the other boys, and a key point to the group of boys. When the boys made the signal fire, they used Piggy's glasses to start the fire with the lens flare. Throughout the book, Jack had been wanting Piggy's glasses for his own use. "The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth, and he made stabbing motions with his spear.

Read More
185 Words | 1 Pages

The mistake made by Sir William Golding in Lord of the Flies is regarding Piggy’s glasses. Furthermore, Piggy is portrayed to be very nearsighted meaning he is unable to see things relatively close to his eyes or being myopic. However, the boys use his glasses to start fires when in a scientific perspective, it is impossible to start a fire with the glasses of a person who is myopic. In addition, it is as a result of the concave lens which diverges light rays to form an image on the retina of an eye. The only possible way to start a fire with glasses, is with the spectacles of a farsighted or hyperopic person as the lens are convex as they converge light rays to a specific focal point in front of the lens, depending on the focal length.

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, young boys get stranded on an island with no adults in the midst of a war. The boys were orderly and civilized in the beginning but then as they began killing pigs they slowly became savages and lost their civilization. The boys began turning on each other and the evil within them became present. Golding uses a variety of literary devices including personification, symbols, metaphors, and irony, to project the theme that pure and realistic people in the world can be unheard and destroyed by evil.

Read More
767 Words | 4 Pages

Thesis Statement: In Lord of the Flies William Golding throughout the book is trying to show you that society should recognize man is evil. Introduction Paragraph: In the book Lord of the Flies the author William Golding shows a group of boys losing their innocence throughout their life stuck on this inhabited island in the pacific ocean. These boys go from being quiet and shy to violent and dangerous young little boys. Golding uses the pigs, hunting, and the boys face painting to show their lose of innocence throughout the story. There 's no rules of any sort on this island these boys landed on they are free to do whatever they want whenever they want.

Read More

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

Related Topics

Open Document