The conch is a symbol of authority, common sense and democratic discipline. Each character in the story respects the conch; if you wish to speak you must hold the conch.
Piggy is very different to Ralph he is unattractive, fat and suffers from asthma. He is very rational but, his physical appearance and the manner in which he presents himself stop him from being a leader, "We don't want you" (page 26) Jack said to Piggy. Piggy is an observer, learning from the behaviour of others. His status in their society allows him to look at the boys from an outsider's perspective. He can learn of the hatred being brought out of the boys without having to experience the thirst for blood that Ralph exposes himself to. Piggy wears glasses, which are a symbol of intelligence, vision, ideas and seeing metaphorically. He is a very good judge of character and he sees that Ralph is a good person no matter how much Ralph mocks him at the beginning. Piggy is loyal to Ralph throughout.
Piggy was raised by his Auntie as his parents passed away. He comes from a lower middle working class background, which allows him to see the main world as it is. From the very beginning, Piggy was seen as an outsider, partly due to his physical characteristics such as his tubby body and his asthma, but his common sense and scientific point of view make him an adult figure, which ruins the fun on the island. Piggy makes constant adult references such as "What's grow-ups going to say?" Piggy is more intelligent than Ralph and has a deeper understanding of people. Piggy identifies the hatred Jack feels. Without Ralph, Jack will pick on Piggy. He is very quick minded, however he can be naive. Piggy knew he would get teased about his nickname but he still tells Ralph what he is commonly called, we never find out Piggy's real name. He is a very reliable boy on the island, if he is given a task, he would carry it out to the best of his ability, he can look ahead and plan carefully for the future. When the boys set the mountaintop on fire he shouted at their immature recklessness, "The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach... Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn't no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire" (page 50). Like Ralph, his sense of maturity and responsibility set him apart from the other boys. The author used the image of long hair to illustrate Piggy's sustenance of his civilized behaviour. "He was the only boy on the island whose hair never seemed to grow" (p. 70).
Piggy is an intelligent boy with a good understanding of their situation. The resulting cruelty Jack inflicted upon Piggy disillusioned his innocent but intelligent mind and taught Piggy how much more pain there was in the world.
In chapter 1, Ralph finds a conch, he sees it was a glistening shape in the water, and it is Piggy who knows what it is and how to use it. It is Piggy who suggests using it to summon others on the island. Ralph blows the conch, as Piggy is not able to blow the conch due to his asthma. As the conch is blown the surviving boys hear it and start to gather. As the boys gather Piggy is clear minded regarding the situation, he is acting in a mature manner, suggesting they should receive each boy’s name, whereas Ralph still sees the situation as incredibly fun and visualises the island as a playground. “…Something dark and fumbling along…” heard the conch and were heading towards the group of boys; it was a choir being led by Jack Merridew.
Jack Merridew has a clear fierce and aggressive desire to lead and control. He is portrayed as having an air of cruelty that made him naturally unlikeable and completely obsessed with leadership and power; from page 20 he is ordering his “wearily obedient” choir with military discipline. From the start, Jack is an authoritarian. He shouts orders at them and he makes the decisions without anyone else’s opinions. When Jack is introduced, his appearance matches his personality and ideas, the way in which the clothes he wears are describes, reflects the way he is. He wears a black “circling” cloak, his red hair mirrors his short fiery temper, he controls his choir and he has the ability to make them listen to him. Jack thoroughly rejects the idea of having a democratic leadership; he simply wants to enforce his decisions onto the boys himself. Jack likes to be called by his last name “Merridew”. This gives him a sense of authority, which links to having power. His craving to be Chief is clearly apparent in his first appearance. When the idea of having a Chief was mentioned Jack spoke out instantly, "I ought to be chief" said with simple superiority, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy”. He does not consider that anybody else would be capable of being a good chief; he was just concerned about having power. Jack is very short tempered and shows his true side, and anger when he stabs the tree trunk. Jack is very violent, unreasonable and insensitive which is in complete contrast to Ralph. Roger suggests having a vote to make a chief and when electing a chief, it is ironic that Piggy possesses so many of the qualities needed for a leader, however, he is unsuitable for chief position because of his background and his physical appearance. It is Piggy who is the very first to suggest having a meeting, it is evident that he does not see the island as a playground and a great game and adventure. This is in complete contrast with both Jack and Ralph.
Ralph wins the vote against Jack, is able to deal with Jack in a very diplomatic way, he says that he has the choir and they can be the hunters, this gives Jack the authority he wants. Even though Piggy clearly has leadership qualities he is now an outsider. When Ralph tells the rest of the group Piggy’s name, he replies “…with the directness of true leadership…” and says “better Piggy than Fatty”, Piggy sees the island as a place without any adults and them having to survive for themselves, he is very clear minded. Even though there is a battle from the start between Jack and Ralph they accept each other with a common respect, “Jack and Ralph smiles at each other with a shy liking”. Ralph chooses Jack and Simon to explore the island with him. The reaction Piggy gives to this is that he is being left out. Ralph identifies Piggy's feelings and deals with it with the directness of genuine leadership and gives Piggy the job of staying behind to collect names. The freedom accessible to Jack from the island allows him to express the darker sides of his personality that had been reserved by the standards of his past environment. Without adults as a superior and responsible authority, he begins to lose his fear of being punished for inappropriate actions and behaviour. The freedom he has along with his spiteful and overconfident personality makes it possible for him to rapidly degenerate into a savage.
In chapter 2 Ralph blows the conch to bring everyone together for an assembly, he explains to everybody that the island is uninhabited and there are no grown ups. This means the boys will have to take care of themselves. He sets out tasks, and allows the hunters to catch food. At this point Ralph is showing good leadership skills. He used the conch as a symbol of democrat; if anybody wants to talk they must be holding the conch. Jack tries to take the role as leader, by telling the boys they have rules, he gets excited about rules and if people break them there will be punishments. During chapter two Piggy is still incredibly pessimistic about the future. He is not afraid to speak out even when what he has to say is unpopular, “nobody knows where we are…” When the fire on the mountain gets out of control it is Piggy that notices that the boy with the mulberry coloured birthmark has disappeared, this shows us that Piggy is observant, mature and clever. Ralph is chosen as leader because he tells everyone what they want to hear, he tells them that he has been thinking about their situation and he is certain the grown-ups will rescue them.
In chapter 3 Ralph and Jack have their first argument. Ralph has realised how it is not a fun thing being stuck on and uninhabited island anymore. They have lost civilisation and he wants to try and keep it as civilised as possible, by building shelters whereas Jacks main concern is hunting. Jack totally focuses on hunting, and will not listen to Ralph “the madness came into his eyes again “ I though I might kill”. Once again during this chapter Piggy is still the mature character, he accuses everybody of acting like a crowd of kids, Piggy needs civilisation in life, he needs stability and the island is very far from any of those things. Jack is totally blinded by hunting; he forgets the need to be rescued and only cares about hunting.
In Chapter four, Jack starts to gain more control. The “little-uns” need adult behaviour, they need a passionate sense of responsibility and Ralph sets a strong example to them. Jack paints his face the colour of hellfire, damnation and evil, red, black and white “like in the war”, to Jack a painted mask offers an external picture of what is happening within him, he is regressing to a primitive form. Personal appearance is important to Jack in his lust for power and his painted face makes his appearance increasingly dirty and savage like. By the end of chapter 4 Ralph fails as a leader, calling a meeting, which may have been one of his biggest mistakes.
In chapter 5, there is an incredible shirt in power. The island has changed from a play place to a place of danger. During the beginning two pages of chapter 5, there is an unbelievable cloud of foreboding. The only beautiful part of the island appears to be the conch; the conch is their escape and gives them a feeling of democracy. Ralph needs Piggy, however to everybody else, Piggy is still an outsider. Ralph’s leadership tells when he would not compromise or agree with any of them, whereas Jack said what the boys in their naivety wished to hear. Ralph is still a leader, he tries to erase the little-uns fears by talking sensible but Jack ruins this. Jack seems to want to make the others believe in the beast. This could be of help to him. The little uns now see Jack as their protector. During this Chapter the beast is at the forefront. Piggy has a typically rational argument against being afraid. He is mature and would know the consequences if he said there was a beast. Piggy is particularly physically vulnerable and one would normally have expected him to be afraid, but he is trying to remove the fear whereas Jack is trying to reinforce it. This is the complete breakdown of civilisation, Jack challenges Ralph’s suitability for leadership and Ralph responds by telling Jack he is “breaking the rules”, Jack replies “bollocks to the rules!” this quote marks the collapse of Ralph’s and Piggy’s attempt to keep civilised standards.
The main struggle; for power is between Ralph and Jack. They are both very different types of leaders; each wants to rely on very different principles. Ralph is a democratic leader and Jack is an autocratic. Jacks leadership is based on domination and fear. He imposes his will on others with no regards to their feelings or needs. Jack even tries to hide his identity behind a mask with the protection of a mask he is able to display the savage and brutal power which marks his leadership.
Lord of the flies uses the changes experienced by the boys on an uninhabited island to show the evil nature of man as a leader. By using different characters the author is able to portray numerous types of character found in our society. Their true selves are revealed in the freedom from morals and punishment of a world with adults and higher authority. Under the authority of their former society, Jack's inner evil was concealed. However, as the rules no longer existed, he was free to do what he desired and act as the immoral autocratic born leader he is. Ralph had grown so used to the stability of a civilized world that the changes they experience were difficult for him to grasp. He became confused and less capable of thinking in clarity and independently. Even though he too had experienced the desire for aggression that had driven Jack and the hunters to momentary heights of madness, his more sensitive personality and his sense of responsibility saved him from total savagery. These two qualities also helped to keep Piggy from becoming primal in behaviour. He was made an outcast by his undesirable physique and his superior intellect. This isolation and wisdom helped Piggy to retain his civilized behaviour. He was made painfully more aware of the great amount of inequality in the world. From these three characters, it could be seen that under the same circumstances, different individuals can develop in different ways depending on the factors within themselves and how they cooperate with other people. Their traits and what they knew determined how they would understand and adapt to a new environment. Lord of the Flies truly depicts some peoples savaging need to be leaders.
