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.