A stereotype is a mistaken idea or belief many people have about a thing or group that is based upon how they look only on the outside. The character, Piggy, defies stereotypes by using his intelligence through his words instead of his actions. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, tells a story about a group of British schoolboys whose plane crashes on a deserted island. The rules and regulations that they develop slowly fade because of the lack of civilization on the island. Because there are no adults on the island, the boys eventually turn against each other, and they become violent towards one another. Piggy helped Ralph try to keep the boys civilized and had many positive qualities, which is why he is the real hero of the story.
Piggy is the most significant hero in the story for trying the hardest to keep the boys civilized. For example, he is the one that had the idea to make the conch an important part of the group's meetings. The conch represents a form of democracy and ruling in which piggy wanted to have to keep things under control. This shell gives the right to speak to the boy who holds it. Without the conch, the voice of piggy would have never been heard. Piggy tries to keep everything under control by taking the conch and saying, “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things has been done on this island” (Golding 240). Another way that he tried to keep everyone under control was at the point where Ralph wanted to let Jack take over. Piggy knew that having Jack as a leader would turn things for the worse and civilization would not exist. He convinced Ralph to not give up his spot as leader because they were the only two who wanted to be civil. Piggy knew that nobody would take him seriously and he wouldn’t have a voice without Ralph being an important leader. When Piggy was convincing ralph to stay as chief he says, “I voted for you for chief. He’s the only one who ever got anything done. So now you speak, Ralph, and tell us what” (Golding 240). In the end, Piggy had to find a way to make his voice heard, and the only way to do that was through Ralph being chief.
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Despite having obstacles in his way for his voice to be heard, Piggy has many important qualities that contribute to the group. He is very smart and has ideas that benefit the entire group. For example, he had the idea to move the fire closer to the shore so that ships would be more likely to see the smoke on the island. Piggy’s glasses were a tool used to create fire to increase the chances of getting rescued and to be able to cook food. Piggy tells the boys to give his glasses back as he says, “Give me my specs!” (Golding 41). This quote foreshadows the importance of Piggy’s glasses to the group’s need for fire as said before. This quote also contributes to the developing plot of the story. Piggy’s intelligence was also strong enough to recognize that the beast was not real. He also realizes that the beast is actually apart of the boys themselves. In The Lord of the Flies, the beast is the savagery that exists within all human beings. The boys are afraid of the beast because it is inside each of them and they are unaware of what could happen with it. Piggy notices that fear itself exists, and could become dangerous if the boys start to become frightened of one another by saying, “I know there isn’t no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn’t no fear, either...unless we get frightened of people” (Golding 84). As said before, Piggy has a personality that gives advantages to the rest of the island.
Some people may say that Piggy is not the real hero because he was an overweight boy with asthma who wore glasses. However, Piggy is the real here of the story because he assisted Ralph with keeping the children civilized while on the island. Piggy suggested the conch be used to let everyone have a fair chance at expressing their ideas. This is Piggy’s way of getting his ideas through to the group. Without it, Piggy would not have a chance at being considered valuable to the group. Despite his physical disadvantages, Piggy was able to use his personality to benefit the group. He had smart idea like moving the fire and realizing the beast isn’t real. Instead of using his actions to take part in group activities, he used his brain and words, which seemed to work better in his case.
In conclusion, people in the real world who are like Jack think that intelligence is incompatible with strength, but Piggy is an example of how that is untrue. Piggy is one of the most significant characters in the novel, The Lord of the Flies. Piggy is the real hero of the story because he helped Ralph maintain order throughout the island and had a few positive characteristics that benefited the entire group. In real life situations, people shouldn’t act so fast on judging someone based on their looks, but they should get to know them better because they could end up being a real hero.
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