Cultural Assumption 1:
I have been reading Lord of the Flies recently and I have found that not everybody is given the treatment they deserve when they do not fit the stereotype of what a man should be.
Piggy is an asthmatic, glasses wearing, short, fat, boy. You can see how badly he is treated for being different, for example; When you meet the first two boys, Ralph and Piggy, Ralph hardly pays any attention to him and Piggy feels satisfied whenever he is given any recognition, and when Piggy has good ideas they go by not really noticed by the others. Ralph is in charge because he is fit and strong which means he is powerful.
Also, when all the boys are at the first meeting, Piggy tries to talk, and is instantly told by Jack to "shut up fatty" and then Ralph replies "he's not Fatty! his real names Piggy" in which everybody laughs at Piggy. Once Ralph decides to make Jack the head of the hunting party he decides that they should scout the island to make sure it's really an island, Piggy wants to come along but he is instantly shut down by Jack because "He was not fit for a job like that" on account of him being fat, Piggy just gets embarrassed and is told to go back to getting the other boys names because that was his job.`
Piggy is the brains of the group, he came up with the idea to make shelters on the first night, but nobody heard him as he was cut off by Ralph who suggested to make a signal fire, and everybody ran off immediately, which left Piggy annoyed as he knew what he was talking about and Ralph was only able to become the leader because of Piggy. Piggy finally arrives after everybody has already gotten all the fire wood into a pile as large as a haystack, and by all the others the only use from Piggy was to use his glasses to light the fire.
I believe this treatment of Piggy is extremely unaccepting of peoples differences and it should not be allowed to happen, Piggy should be accepted by the group instead of being treated like he doesn't even exist.
Golding accepts the cultural assumption because it makes the book more interesting, because characters without personality aren't interesting and it helps with advancing the plot. Also in the 1950s it was after World War 1 and World War 2 both of which Golding grew up in and was a time when men who were fit and strong had fought for their country, and People like Piggy were ashamed because they were not fit to fight in these wars and defend their county. Golding has also stated to the public that during his childhood he entertained himself by bullying other kids, and these kids were probably a lot like Piggy.