I'm scared of him," said Piggy, "and that's why I know him. If you're scared of someone you hate him but you can't stop thinking about him. You kid yourself he's all right really, an' then when you see him again; it's like asthma an' you can't breathe.
Interpretation
Fear can be a powerful motivator that drives our awareness and understanding of others.
This quote reflects the complex emotions that arise from fear and hatred. Piggy's admission reveals that fear can create an obsessive fixation on the one we fear, leading to a mix of admiration and repulsion. It highlights how fear can cloud judgment and how our perceptions of others can be distorted by our emotions. The metaphor of asthma illustrates the suffocating nature of this fear, making it difficult to confront the true nature of the person we find intimidating.
In practice
In a presentation on overcoming personal fears, you might quote this to illustrate the complexities of fear and intimidation.
Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving and does not get off the bicycle he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and I think of any society of living things.
The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won't tell.
Maybe, he said hesitantly, maybe there is a beast. The assembly cried out savagely and Ralph stood up in amazement. You, Simon? You believe in this? I don't know, said Simon. His heartbeats were choking him. [...] Ralph shouted. Hear him! He's got the conch! What I mean is . . . maybe it's only us. Nuts! That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum.
The mask was a thing on it's own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-conciousness.
Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.
Utopias are presented for our inspection as a critique of the human state.
The terrible thing about free soloing difficult routes that are within one's capacity, is the chance that faced with ultimate danger and need for ultimate self-control, one's nerve might fail and cause an error. That's irony of it - that fear could short-circiut skill, that one would die as a direcy result of being afraid to die.
Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defense, the militia, is put in the hands of Congress? Of what service would militia be to you when, most probably, you will not have a single musket in the state? For, as arms are to be provided by Congress, they may or may not provide them.
People always seem to assume that we have a full, back-up support team - make-up, costume and a driver - but usually, in a war zone, there's only me and the cameraman.
The brave man is not only he who overcomes the enemy, but he who is stronger than pleasures.
I used to get bullied by the popular girls at school. Today, I am the popular girl, and the bullies come to my shows.
A bad war is fought with a good mind.
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