As an allegory, "Lord of the Flies" has characters who stand for qualities beyond themselves. As such, Ralph represents the "golden boy," the born leader who has the charisma to move people. When the boys first arrive on the island, Ralph removes his shirt and happily baptizes himself in the water,
He turned over, holding his nose, and a golden light danced and shattered over his face. Piggy was looking determined and began to take off his shorts. Presently he was palely and fatly naked.
When Ralph says that his father will rescue them, Piggy asks,"How does he know we're here?" Ralph thinks only "Because....because....because." Later in the novel as Ralph hides from the hunters, he realizes his shortcoming, wishing he could "think as Piggy can."
Piggy, thin of hair, fat, near-sighted, represents the mature adult who uses reason to solve problems. For this reason, he is superior in leadership to Ralph; however, because he does not make the "golden" appearance that Ralph does, Piggy cannot get the respect of the boys that he needs in order to lead.
In Chapter Nine, although his hunger makes him weak enough to join Ralph in meeting with the hunters so that they can have some meat, Piggy is wise enough to assess situations; when Jack exploits his power, Piggy urges Ralph,
'Come away. There's going to be trouble. And we've had our meat.'
Unfortunately, Ralph does not listen and they are trapped behind the "fence" of brown bodies that shout "Kill the beast....cut his throat" as little Simon gets swept into the circle after Roger has left, having pretended to be a pig. Since the boys have so worked themselves into a frenzy of blood lust, Simon falls victim, proving Piggy's words of caution all too true.
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