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| Piggy's Specs |
Piggy's spec's represent power and control on the island and which ever boy posseses the specs has the power. Throughout Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, the boys use Piggy's specs in order to make fire. Piggy's specs were the only possible way to make fire on the island. Whoever had the specs possesed fire, or power. At the beginning of the novel the boys need to find out how to make a fire, Ralph geniously figured out that Piggy's specs can be used as a fire starter. Once Jack started to become a savage and left Ralph with the other boys they realized they could not thrive and be succesful without Piggy's specs for fire. Jack and his tribe quickly realized that Piggy's specs were an essential item. "He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses"(168). Throughout the novel so far, Piggy's specs have been used to start fire. As Jack strayed from the boys and made his own savage like tribe, he realized that the only was for his tribe to be in full control over Ralph and the island, was to attain Piggy's specs. After Jack took Piggy's specs after raiding Ralph's camp he essentially had all of the power on the island which in turn simply turned Jack into a bigger savage. This downfall of Ralph's camp made them go into Jack's camp and try and retrieve the specs, which ultimately caused the downfall of Piggy and Ralph and the uprising of savagry. Towards the end of the novel when the savages have taken over the island and are chasing after Ralph,the savages, led by Jack, are stuck in a dilema. Ralph has burrowed himself in some bushes in order to evade death but Jack decides to smoke him out of the bushes, using the specs. This fire that Jack has created ends up catching the fire ablaze. "Then Ralph was running beneath trees, with the grumble of the forest explained. They had smoked him out and set the island on fire"(197). The savages have succesfully smoked Ralph out using Piggy's specs, but by doing so they have set the entire island on fire. Piggy's specs show how Jack had complete control over Ralph, and the island. The specs gave Jack the power to make Ralph come out of the safe thicket. Without the specs Ralph could have stayed in the thicket for as long as he wanted to. Since the specs were in the hands of Jack, a savage, the entire island was set ablaze which was the downfall of the island. If Ralph had kept control of the specs, I believe that the fate of the island would have been completly different. Piggy's specs showed who had control and power on the island as well as the fate of the island based on who had control.
