W. Somerset Maugham advises: "When choosing your friends, do not be deceived into choosing personality rather than character." Personality, the distinctive qualities that shape a person's social attractiveness, can deceptively hide a person's character, the moral or ethical qualities that shape a person's individual nature. Maugham considers a conscientious but non-charismatic person to have more merit than a charming but depraved person, the reason being that true friendship should provide integrity, not entertainment. In a difficult situation, a friend with a virtuous character will be helpful, while a friend with an attractive personality will observe and laugh. Ralph, from William Golding's Lord of the Flies, initially chooses Jack as a mate for all the wrong reasons, while belittling and weakening Piggy, an easy target. However, his loss of respect for Jack - as he becomes a bloodthirsty barbarian - and loss of motivation to gain authority as leader gradually transforms Ralph and Piggy's relationship from Ralph humiliating Piggy for authoritative gain to depending on each other. 'other by default and, ultimately, to a recognized and appreciated intimacy. At their first meeting, Piggy confides in Ralph about the nickname his classmates used to mock him, Piggy, before Ralph blows the conch to rally other kids to the island. Upon the arrival of Jack and his uniformed choir, Piggy asks the assembly of boys to introduce themselves by their names, to Jack's chagrin. She titles their names as "baby names" and wonders why her identification can't be "Merridew", her last name. Ralph agrees with Jack's vision, crediting Jack's voice as "the voice of someone who [knows] his own mind" (21). Like Piggy...... in the center of the card......ue, loyal friendship. After Piggy's death, Ralph had no time to react, as the barbarians were attempting to kill him, but with a naval officer standing in the way of his impending murder, Ralph can finally show the anguish he feels for Piggy. The final testimony to their friendship is what Ralph cries about; for Ralph, Piggy represented as much meaning as innocence and morality. Lord of the Flies carefully illustrates the veracity behind Maugham's advice as Ralph soon realizes his foolish mistake of crediting Jack and humiliating Piggy when he witnesses Jack's wild and malevolent actions and notices the pragmatic, yet neglected resolutions. Their whole outcome might have ended differently if Ralph had not imprudently befriended the beast of nature, the lord of lycanthropy, and cruelly mocked the wise Piggy, the sensitive friend..