By Chapter 11 Ralph and the very few remainders of his group have been reduced to a miserable condition. Deserted by a majority of the boys, physically assaulted at night and having Piggy's precious spectacles stolen from him has left them in a hopeless position and no longer able to ignore Jack and his rival group of hunters. At Piggy's insistence Ralph again wearily blows the conch for a meeting, which is of course only answered by Piggy himself, Samneric and a few ubiquitous littluns. It is during this last, desperate meeting that we see the true strength and resolve in Piggy's character - the least physically able boy on the island.

"Piggy! Stop a minute!"

"I got the conch. I'm going to go to that Jack Merridew an' tell him, I am."

"You'll get hurt."

"What can he do more than he has? I'll tell him what's what. You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I'll show him the one thing he hasn't got." (p.210)

Piggy is once again the shining figure in the pursuit of truth and justice. Despite the dangers and his crippled physical state he is determined and insistent; still doggedly following a path that he is sure grown-ups would take. However, his determination does also reveal his naivety. Jack and his hunters have long thrown off all ties of civilized behaviour and will surely only react violently to his appeals for fairness. He also believes the conch still has universal value for all the boys as a precious object of law and order; again, he misreads what Jack and his followers really now value which is physical strength and violence. Ultimately, this results in Piggy's shocking demise.