Piggy, one of the most interesting characters in the book Lord of the Flies, He is not the most courageous or perhaps the most athletic, and definitely not a leader. However piggy is the one person that lets you know about reality, and tears you away from monsters and beasties. He shows his responsibility even in his first parts of the book he is the first to interact with survivors of the plain crash "what is your name?" But what point is there in a book to have a character with all this importance - besides the glasses for the fire - which just ends up dieing. If there is a point then why does he die?.
Piggy is needed in many occasions, not just for a cheap laugh with "I got the conch" but for a role that can not be fulfilled by the leader, or the hunter, and not the spiritual guider, he is the parental figure but with a childish attitude. Piggy explains that there couldn't be monsters " There's no such thing as monsters, people would have seen them" he assures everybody that it will be ok and there are no monsters, but like children do to adults they shrug him off, and besides piggy is not the most listened to at the camp anyways. If he were a more authorities character then he would be taken seriously.
At the beginning of the book when piggy asks jack what his name is that sets piggy up to be a good hearted character that everyone will like. However he is introduced to us as the fat kid, and as everyone knows, no one likes the fat kid. The fat kid is the one who is ridiculed and made fun of and never, ever taken seriously. Should piggy have told Ralph his actual name and not his nickname at school then I think he would have been a bit better off with the other boys. But it was crucial for Piggy to meet jack though because that sets up a bond between the characters that lasts to the bitter end.
Why does piggy die? I keep asking myself this and after discussing his parental role in the class I know that he died because what the kids are doing is a direct violation of what ever they have been taught by their parents.
