Piggy was a thinker, the smartest kid I’ve ever known. It’s ironic to think that of all the boys, I knew Piggy the most and I do not even know his real name. I hurt’s me to think that I did not realize Piggy’s intelligence until it was almost too late. When we first met I laughed at him and teased him. If I could go back to that first time we met I would have probably still laughed at his confession of being teased as Piggy, but I would still want to know his name. Unfortunately, I will probably never know his true name, and even if I do I will never be able to call him by it.
All the time on the island I really took Piggy for granted, his thoughts, his opinions. In the back of my mind I thought they would always be there, how wrong I was to think. I remember that first day clearly, it was far before most of us had spiraled out of control. While we were still innocent and naive. Piggy had seen me and he was the first boy I met on the island. We walked along the beach and found the conch shell that soon came to symbolize our new found society. Piggy had to tell me how to use it because of his asthma. He was the only boy at school with asthma and specs.
I guess Piggy was always different from everyone else. Using the conch as he told me I blew and thus a meeting was called, the first meeting. The meeting was anything but organized, yet there was Piggy taking people’s names, the only one smart enough to think of knowing how many of us there were. But even he didn’t get that far, I didn’t give him the chance too. Later on when we set a bunch of dead wood on fire using Piggy’s specs and when Piggy noticed one of the younger boys or litluns was missing, I acted uninterested though deep down I knew I had failed that boy as chief.
Piggy cared though, he made sure we were all clear on that, maybe he felt guilty as it was his specs to light the flame. But whenever he had tried to make things heard he was always opposed, mainly by Jack and even myself at times. I think that if we had listened to him from the beginning, things may have been different. But we were young and selfish, and picked on Piggy because he wasn’t like us. I remember often leaving Piggy with the litluns while I went off exploring, and now I see how unfair I was not to include him on the fun.
Slowly everything began to change, I think it was when the hunter killed the first pig, but I didn’t realize it then. I remember the enmity between Jack and Piggy. They always spoke their mind to one another and I think Jack resented Piggy for always having something to say, we all did. Through Piggy I learned to think for myself and it is something I will always be grateful for, thanks to Piggy I stayed sane. Thinking back I know it was rough for Piggy during his last few days. We had formed two separate groups, Simon had been killed, and his glasses were broken.
That was when I saw a change in him. It was slight, but still there. He still told us what he thought, but what he thought about had changed. He still reminded me of the fire and being rescued, but the spark he got in his eyes when he was excited was gone. Then he had his glasses stolen by the others. I think that was the end for Piggy. I should have never brought him to Castle Rock where the others lived, and once there I should have never left him standing alone. If anybody deserved to get off this island it was Piggy.
Piggy had a real future ahead of him, now he has nothing. I still remember seeing the rock going towards him and how he had no idea what was coming his way. And as I saw him laying there on that lone rock in the sea, I saw how different Piggy truly was from the rest of us. Not in the way he looked, but in what he believed. He was always talking about his auntie and what the adults would do, and I think as strange as this may sound, that Piggy was an adult. Sure in age he was not, but in his mind and mannerisms he sure was.
He had wisdom beyond his years. It pains me to think Piggy will never get to have that bright future. Every day that I am alive I think of him and how he got me through my time on the island. During those last few days I learned to appreciate him for the great person he was. I now know not to judge and to treasure what I have. Appearance has nothing to do with knowledge, I learned that a lot. And I know Piggy taught me more things on that island that I will continue to discover, as I owe my life to him, my true, wise friend called Piggy.
