Leadership 101: A Pig’s Guide

Leadership 101: A Pig’s Guide

 

The person that takes care of you, the person responsible for the success of your life, the person that makes decisions for you, that is a leader.  Sometimes you have a choice of who your leader is , sometimes you don’t, either way you want someone capable and someone that you trust.  In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young English boys flee war in their country.  Their plane crashes and these children, ranging from ages six to twelve, are left stranded on a deserted tropical island.  When the surviving boys convene together, they find that there are no adults that were saved.  They learn that they hold the responsibility for their existence on this island and that they must take certain steps to create a civilized lifestyle in an unknown place.  The boys become dependent on their elected leader, Ralph, a parent like figure, who helps them make decisions and survive in what is a very scary atmosphere for such young children. 

            As problems arise with a supposed “beast” and the boys’ responsibilities, Ralph’s leadership is questioned.  As ideas for new leaders come up among the older boys, Piggy is thought of as a candidate.  Based on evidence in the novel about his physical condition, ability to work with others, and mental stability, its doubtful that Piggy, compared to Ralph, would be more successful as a leader than Ralph and the civilization would probably suffer.

            Piggy has many distinct qualities that make him stand out when compared to the other boys.  His weight and height are very different when compared to Ralph.  “His knees were plump...He was shorter...and very fat” (page 7).  “My auntie told me not to run, on account of my asthma...Can’t catch my breath...And I’ve been wearing specs since I was three” (page 9). 

            Ralph’s tall stature and handsome appearance allow the other boys to literally look up to him and respect him as a role model and leader.  When Lord of the Flies has been analyzed many have concluded that Piggy represents the modern man.  He is extremely dependent on technology as well as other people.  This is symbolized by his glasses (he cannot see without them) and the way he does not participate in manual labor on the island.  If his glasses broke and he could not see, how could he lead? 

            The aspect of giving orders to people but not physically helping to accomplish the task might make Piggy look like a dictator.  This was a quality that made Ralph a  successful leader.  In contrast, Ralph not only delegated responsibilities for the boys, he also included himself as one of the workers.  This helped the boys identify with Ralph as an equal and not as a burden.  Piggy’s appearance and health are not necessarily things that he can control and he should not be discriminated against because of them but these are characteristics that might not make him the best leader.  He has other qualities that make him essential to the society such as his intellect and show that he should be a key figure in it. 

            We never actually learn Piggy’s real name.  When he introduces himself to Ralph, he tells him about how he was teased at his school.  He says to Ralph, “I don’t care what they call me, so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school...They used to call me ‘Piggy’” (page 11).  This shows the hard feelings Piggy has towards the people that teased him.  He also shows that he is upset and nervous about Jack’s treatment towards him.  He acknowledges that, for some unapparent reason, Jack greatly dislikes Piggy.  Piggy expresses fear to Ralph about what would happen to him if Jack became the leader but one must also look at what would happen if Piggy was in a position on top of this civilization’s hierarchy.  For the first time in his life, what would stop him from getting back at all of the people that made his social life so miserable?  Although Ralph has not befriended every single boy he treats each of them with the same respect and does not show preferential treatment to some and extreme dislike to others.  This is a quality that makes Ralph a fair leader.  The resentment that Piggy feels towards the people who have teased him in the past is clearly apparent in the novel and this factor would put all of the members of the island’s civilization at great risk if he became leader.

            Mentally, Piggy is not among the most stable people either.  He has very low self esteem and very little confidence in his opinions especially  when he is speaking to a group.  For example, when Piggy takes responsibility of gathering all of the boy’s names at the beginning of the book he starts to speak and Jack snaps at him with, “Shut up fatty” (page 21).  This shows that Piggy has definite opinions but is silenced easily by the society’s other members.  As we stated earlier, Piggy is an extremely intelligent person but if he does not have the bravery to put himself on the line and express his ideas then he is of very little use to the civilization and will make a poor leader.  Ralph, on the other hand, understands that there are some boys who “know their own mind” but still recognizes himself as the authority figure and stands up to them  These boys are at such a young age when the story takes place.  They rely entirely on this older boy and are truly dependent on him.  They see him as an adult.  If Piggy has the same low self esteem as the six year olds, he will not be a benefit to the civilization as the sole leader.

            In conclusion, Piggy is a very intelligent person with a distinctive behavior and personality.  He has characteristics that make him an important part of the boys’ civilization but also qualities that would set him back as a leader and result in the fall of the boy’s civilized society.