As Frank Herbert once said, “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” In contrast, the boys in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies let their fear overtake them, eventually leading to their savagery. The only way to combat fear is hope, but the children let their hope fade. The treatment and condition of Piggy’s glasses symbolize hope in teaching that savagery overcomes civility when people lose their hope. In the beginning, the boys treat the glasses with respect; they used the glasses
…show more content…
The glasses, still the only hope for fire, had been stolen by Jack, and “[Jack] led then, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (242). Jack was seen as the real, true leader because he now held the glasses. The glasses symbolize the boys’ hope of rescue, and throughout the story Ralph has been telling the boys that they need to make the fire to be saved. Now Ralph is not in control of glasses which partially diminished his hope. Some of the boys, Piggy especially, still clung to their hope, to their civility: “‘I’m going to [Jack] with this conch in my hands. I’m going to hold it out. Look, I’m goin’ to say, you’re stronger than I am and you haven’t got asthma. You can see, I’m goin’ to say, and with both eyes. But I don’t ask for my glasses back, not as a favor. I don’t ask you to be a sport, I’ll say, not because you’re strong, but because what’s right’s right. Give me my glasses, I’m going to say - you got to!’” (246). When Piggy tries to get his glasses back, he does not see that the others do not care about civility anymore. Piggy, because he is still civil, cannot see the savagery the other boys
The glasses, still the only hope for fire, had been stolen by Jack, and “[Jack] led then, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (242). Jack was seen as the real, true leader because he now held the glasses. The glasses symbolize the boys’ hope of rescue, and throughout the story Ralph has been telling the boys that they need to make the fire to be saved. Now Ralph is not in control of glasses which partially diminished his hope. Some of the boys, Piggy especially, still clung to their hope, to their civility: “‘I’m going to [Jack] with this conch in my hands. I’m going to hold it out. Look, I’m goin’ to say, you’re stronger than I am and you haven’t got asthma. You can see, I’m goin’ to say, and with both eyes. But I don’t ask for my glasses back, not as a favor. I don’t ask you to be a sport, I’ll say, not because you’re strong, but because what’s right’s right. Give me my glasses, I’m going to say - you got to!’” (246). When Piggy tries to get his glasses back, he does not see that the others do not care about civility anymore. Piggy, because he is still civil, cannot see the savagery the other boys