Modern texts, Year 11: Piggy, Simon and Roger (Lord of the Flies option)

Focus sunlight to light the fire

HintThey are more useful than their owner's eyesight.

The whyThe glasses make rescue possible, so Piggy's weakness is also the group's means of survival. That is why Jack's theft is so serious.

The rational side of humanity: reason, rules and thinking things through

HintHe is the thinker of the group, and mocked for it.

The whyPiggy believes in order and in solving problems by thought, but he has little power. He is often a target of scorn because of his asthma, his weight and his poor eyesight.

Piggy is only a nickname: the novel never gives his real name

HintHe asks Ralph not to tell the others.

The whyPiggy admits the nickname to Ralph and begs him to keep it quiet, but Ralph repeats it in front of everyone and Jack mocks him with it. He is known to the reader only by it.

To stay as leader and not give up

HintRalph wanted to resign.

The whyPiggy is Ralph's most loyal supporter and the source of many of his ideas. He cannot lead, because the boys do not respect him.

Roger rolls a boulder down from the rock fort, which also smashes the conch

HintThe same event destroys the shell.

The whyPiggy has come to demand his glasses back, speaking up for reason one last time. His death is the end of the conch's authority.

That it is only a dead parachutist, and not a monster

HintHe is the one who climbs the mountain and looks.

The whySimon sees the body and understands the fear is not about a creature. His truth cannot be heard by the frenzied boys.

That no beast exists to be hunted, because the evil is inside the boys

HintIt speaks in his imagination, in the middle of the forest.

The whyThe head is the Lord of the Flies of the title. Its message gives the book its central idea: the evil is human, not an outside creature.

A spiritual boy who often goes alone into the forest, and who speaks sense during the Ralph–Jack rivalry

HintHe is the quiet one who thinks and looks.

The whyOf Jack's choirboys, he alone does not turn hunter. His thoughtfulness is what makes his death so shocking.

From a quiet boy to a cruel one who enjoys violence once Jack is in charge

HintHe changes when the rules are taken away.

The whyRoger is the one who drops the boulder on Piggy. His change shows that the restraints of civilisation hold some people back only for as long as the rules are enforced.

Sam and Eric, the twins

HintTwo boys who are always seen together.

The whyThey were on watch at the signal fire when it happened, and they ran to tell the others. Later the twins are among the few boys still loyal to Ralph.