Month: January 2015

In Lord of the Flies, I believe that Piggy is the anti-hero. This is because Piggy is always trying to help and do the right thing, but is constantly never being listened to and is regarded as an outcast in the group. Piggy never joins in with group activities but he is always trying to help with cooking and caring for the little ones. Piggy is loyal to Ralph, who was elected Leader from the first day all of them met on the island. Jack (who is co-leader) strongly dislikes Piggy because he wears glasses and he is over weight (hence the nickname Piggy). Jack is also a very loud mouthed and rude person as he is almost always arguing with Ralphs decisions. Ralph and Jack both take the micky out of piggy on a daily basis, even if Piggy is doing nothing. As time passes, Jack starts forming his own little group, and more people start joining Jack. However, Piggy again stays loyal to Ralph even though Ralph is doing almost nothing to try and stop different groups forming. Eventually, Jack’s group (who are on the verge on insanity) move to a different location on top of a tall cliff face. Only 3 of the original group remain with Ralph. When Jack’s group moved to the top of the cliff, they stole Piggy’s glasses so they could make fire with them. Without his glasses, Piggy could barely see a thing. So Ralph, Piggy and the 2 remaining boys in the group decide to go to Jack’s group and ask for Piggy’s glasses back. Ralph tries to talk it out nicely with Jack, but has no success and they start fighting. Just before this, Piggy had been trying to convince some of the others to come back to Ralphs group and at the same time begging for his glasses back. This did not work and Piggy paid the ultimate price. Rodger, Jack’s right hand man, started pushing a large bolder off the cliff. Piggy is still begging for his glasses back when the bolder comes crashing down the cliff face and smashes him in the face. This knocks Piggy off of the ledge he is standing on, and he falls 40ft and lands on rocks. His head is smashed in and Ralph can see his blood and brains pouring out his skull. Piggy’s body is pulled out to sea never to be seen again. Piggy is the anti-hero of this story because he may not have been heroic, but he tried to do the best he could. Piggy died for what he believed in, but he was never recognised for it. Piggy is who I believe is the anti-hero in Lord of the Flies.

In Of Mice and Men I believe that George is an anti-hero. I believe this because he tries to protect his clueless, child like friend Lennie from all the things that he does wrong. But George does not do this in the way you might think. A lot of the time George gets really angry with Lennie because of the stupid things that he does, for instance Lennie wanted to keep a dead mouse in his pocket, but as George tries to take it away, Lennie starts crying. At first George shouts at him until he realises that this is just making Lennie worse, so he calms himself down and speaks to Lennie in a child friendly way. George explains to Lennie that it is not a good idea to keep the mouse because it will make people thick that he is crazy. After a while Lennie agrees with George and he tosses the mouse into a bush. Lennie is also constantly raving on about when in the future, he and George will have a big house and farm. Along with this, Lennie is constantly asking George when he does have a big house, can he look after and pet the rabbits. George tells him yes every time, but Lennie constantly forgets. Often George will hit Lennie because he is acting stupid. This shows he is an anti-hero because most normal hero’s don’t hit people that they are trying to help, unless they need to of course. George often has to repeat most of the things he does, too try and explain to Lennie that some things he does are good, and some things he does are bad. It works almost every time. Almost. George and Lennie had just got a job on a ranch, when Lennie does something that will ultimately end his life. The boss has a son on the ranch called Curly, nobody likes him, but he is married to a young, pretty women who nobody trusts. Curley has an immediate dislike of Lennie and ends up having a crushed hand when he and Lennie has a fight. This makes him hate Lennie even more and he will now use any excuse to kick George and Lennie out of the ranch. One day, Curley’s wife finds Lennie petting the puppy he had been given and comes down and sits next to him. They start talking and Curley’s wife lets Lennie touch her hair. Lennie’s love for soft things suddenly ignites and he doesn’t let go of her hair. Curley’s wife begins to scream and Lennie tries to keep her quite by picking her up and shaking her. Lennie shakes her so violently that her neck snaps. Lennie knew he would be in trouble with George, but he told him anyway. George tells Lennie to run and wait for him next to a near by river. All the workers at the ranch find out and Curley immediately blames Lennie. He gets his gun and goes out looking for Lennie along with the rest of the workers. When George finds Lennie, he has to make the ultimate decision. Does he choose to kill his best friend to save him from what the others will do to him, or does he let his best friend rot in jail and get beaten to a pulp by Curley and some of the ranch workers. This is the main thing that makes George an anti-hero. George creeps up behind Lennie, holds a pistol to his head, and pulls the trigger. Immediately all the ranch workers run to the sound of the gun shot. They see Lennie slumped down on the floor, and George standing there with an empty look in his eye. George did the worst thing possible to make sure Lennie did not suffer. That is the my definition of an anti-hero.