piggy Flashcards
purpose of piggy?
intelligence & scientific mind on the island
law and order and rationality
only adult voice on the island
outsider, scapegoat
“acting like a crowd of kids”
patronising, ironic, piggy potentially has a sense of superiority, wants order and rules to keep them from acting as such
acting - verb, piggy dislikes their behavior, shaming them, acting like the adult
simile, ironic, they ARE a crowd of kids, piggy expects them to act like adults, expects them to be mature in situations wjthout adults. piggy potentially knows what to do without an adult, no parents, only has an aunt, therefore acts mature; perhaps golding says that ppl with different upbringing have different ways of keeping contol?
“only boy whose hair never seemed to grow”
only boy - outcast onve again, singled out, shows never changing constant demeanour
grow - verb, could mean mentally as well as physically, mentally does not change - rules and order still important, arguably is still quite lazy + blames asthma (could foreshadow his reluctance to take accountability of simons death), no change of character, physical no hair growth etc
“life” said piggy expansively “is scientific”
expansively - adverb, piggy is seen as mostly meek, piggy grows with the scientific knowledge and explanations, he understands that life is an enormous concept
scientific - noun, shows his rationality and his basis in rules and evidence
“we never done nothing, we never seen nothing”
never - negative, firm in his beliefs about accountability, he wont be held responsible. repeated, like he is trying to convince himself
done, seen - verbs show he has blinded his senses towards his actions, being on the island makes him lose his ability to take responsibility.
“Which is better - law and rescue or hunting and breaking things up?”
patronising, using shame to mollify the boys, questioning them whilsg knowing the answer, constantly hauling them back to society’s opinions and morality of actions
law and rescue - piggy’s priorities, law, justice, what piggy subconsciously wants after mistreatment from all the boys, rescue, piggy wants to be saved, he wants the heroic side of MEI to clutch/restore his faith in the adult world and civilisation
hunting and breaking things up - verbs, tribal, violent, chaotic, juxtaposes his admiration for order and law, shows that he recognises the other boys descent into savagery, once again the voice of rationality.
“Piggy was.. like a pig”
“The conch exploded into thousands of white fragments and ceased to exist”
like a pig - simile, he has been dehumanised, reduced to an animal
exploded - verb, violent and graphic, war imagery? bomb-like, similar to piggys death
thousand, fragments - adjective and noun, numerous, irreparable, fully broken bond, order and rules and civilisation are gone, highlights how the boys have become so detached to society
white - adjective, pure colour, shows the purity and delicacy of rules and maintaing order, boundaries between maintaining order and anarchy is fragile
ceased to exist - phrase, can be seen as a link to piggys life, quickly taken away and easily done, link to civilisation: piggy and conch were a symbol of civilisation, both are now gone snd societal rules cannot be upheld, civilisation is futher destroyed since piggy was killed with intent, opposite of what rules and society want
