Piggy: Considered to be the intellectual of the group, he is grossly overweight (leading to the nickname 'Piggy') and he wears coke-bottle glasses, without which he cannot see. He initially discovers the conch sitting at the bottom of the lagoon and suggests that Ralph use it to call everyone. He is always left to babysit the littluns when the boys go off on adventures, told by Ralph that he "isn't good for this sort of thing." Obviously made fun of in school, he often feels left out and isolated early on in the story although increasingly as Jack and Ralph drift apart, Piggy's voice of reason and insight come to fill the gap, and he and Ralph become good friends. Even though he is ridiculed, his glasses are still crucial to the boys' survival: both for keeping the signal fire lit (for Ralph) and for roasting the meat they have hunted (for Jack). As a result, he becomes an object stuck between these two forces. Later, blinded when his glasses are stolen, he is slain when Roger drops a rock on him from above. After landing on the beach below, Piggy's dead body, true to his name, "twitched a bit, like a pig's after it has been killed." (Chapter 11 pg. 165).
Jack Merridew: Even at the onset, Jack appears to be an ominous figure; the lead singer in the school choir, he holds a certain power over the other choirboys as they walk towards the beach to follow the first sound of the conch. He does allow them to rest despite the heat and fatigue of wearing full black uniform gowns and caps while they walk in two parallel lines toward the conch. Only when Simon faints does he show sympathy. Described as 'tall, thin, and bony...his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was...freckled, and ugly without silliness' (Chapter 1 pg. 19). It is Jack who leads the boys' turn to savagery, or at least gives it a certain order. He is Ralph's chief nemesis; it is he who has brought with him a knife and who gradually becomes obsessed with hunting and killing the pigs on the island. It is these behaviors which later lead to the murders of Simon, Piggy and nearly that of Ralph had grown-ups not come to the boys' rescue at the very last moment.
Civilization and Savagery - The overriding theme of the novel is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group on the one hand; and the instinct to gratify one's immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one's will on the other. These two instincts may be called "the instinct of civilization" and "the instinct of savagery," as one is devoted to values that promote ordered society and the other is devoted to values that threaten ordered society. The conflict might also be expressed as order vs. chaos, reason vs. impulse, law vs. anarchy, or in any number of other ways, including the more generalized good vs. evil. Throughout the novel, the instinct of civilization is associated with goodness, while the instinct of savagery is associated with evil.
Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, which means that its main ideas and themes are frequently represented by symbols.
Golding does not portray this loss of innocence as something that is done to the children; rather, it results naturally from their increasing contact with the innate evil and savagery within themselves. Civilization, in other words, can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings.
The Conch Shell - The conch shell is the first important discovery Piggy and Ralph make on the island, and they use it to summon the boys together after they are separated by the crash. As a result, the conch shell becomes a powerful symbol of civilization and order. It is used to govern the boys' meetings: the boy who holds the shell is given the right to speak, making the shell more than a symbol; it is an actual vessel of political legitimacy and democratic power. As the island civilization erodes and savagery begins to dominate the boys, the conch shell loses its power and influence among them. Ralph clutches it desperately when he talks about his role in murdering Simon. Later, he is taunted and pelted with stones when he attempts to blow it in Jack's camp at Castle Rock. When Roger kills Piggy with the boulder, the conch shell is crushed, signifying the complete demise of the civilized instinct among almost all the boys on the island.
Piggy's Glasses - Piggy is the most intelligent, rational boy in the group, and his glasses represent the power of science and intellectual endeavor in society. This is most clearly demonstrated when Piggy's glasses are used to make fire by intensifying sunlight with their lenses. Thus, when Jack's hunters raid Ralph's camp and steal the glasses, the savages have taken the power to make fire, and Ralph's civilization is left helpless.
The Signal Fire - The signal fire burns on the mountain, and later on the beach, to attract the notice of passing ships that might be able to rescue the boys. As a result, the signal fire becomes a symbol for the boys' connection to civilization. As long as the fire is well maintained, the boys exhibit a desire to return to society, but when the fire burns low or goes out, the boys lose sight of their desire to be rescued, having accepted their savage lives on the island. The signal fire thus functions as a kind of measuring stick by which the strength of the civilized instinct on the island can be judged. Ironically, at the end of the novel, it is a fire that finally summons a ship to the island, but not the signal fire: it is the fire of savagery—the forest fire Jack starts as part of his quest to hunt and kill Ralph.
Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, Roger - Because the novel is an allegory, each character signifies an important idea or theme. Ralph represents order, leadership, and civilization; Piggy represents the scientific and intellectual aspects of civilization; Jack represents savagery and the desire for power; Simon represents natural human goodness; and Roger represents brutality and bloodlust at their most extreme.
