Essay on The End of Innocence in Lord of the Flies

Simon is the Christ-like figure of the story and best represents purity and goodness. All through the book Golding reiterates the idea of a beastie, and turns out the beast is inside everyone. This illustrates the evil of human nature, but the death of Christ saves everyone from the beast inside. ‘“You’ll get back to where you came from…. You’ll get back all right. I think so, anyway’” (111). This one little quote speaks volumes, it almost seems like Simon knew he wasn’t going to make it back home to England. He could’ve said something like, “We will make it back home,” or at least something along those lines, but he didn’t! This is just one example of the parallelism between Jesus and Simon, because like Jesus, so in a way Simon knew that he was going to die. During Simon’s final moments, he was trying to tell the other boys that there is no real beast, but the boys were so focused on killing “the beast” they didn’t realize they were killing Simon. The deaths of Jesus and Simon were unjust, and even when humanity was filled with darkness and evil they were still that ray of holy

During the meeting where the boys are questioning the reality of the beast, Simon says this,”What I mean is...maybe it’s only us”(Golding 89). While everyone else is debating on whether or not the beast is real, Simon is trying to propose that the actual beast is the boys themselves in the form of their savage impulses. Simon is the first character in the novel to see the beast as the evil nature of humans instead of a physical being. The Lord of the Flies confirms Simon’s thought, saying,”Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close!”(Golding 143). This establishes that the only thing to fear on the island is the evil human instinct inside of

The encounter with the Lord of the Flies supports Simon’s thoughts that the beast that the boys are hunting for is not an actual animal. The Lord of the Flies tries to persuade Simon to let go of his rational thoughts and be taken over by his primal instincts in order to have fun like the other boys. However, when Simon’s silence declares that he refuses to let go of logic and rationality, the Lord of the Flies realizes that Simon knows what the beast really is—the innermost part of the boys. Simon seems to make this connection that the Lord of the Flies is representational to the inner beast within the boys almost instantly. “His gaze was held by that ancient, inescapable recognition”(Golding 139). Simon instantly The Lord of the Flies quickly makes the connection, too. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (Golding, 1 ). The Lord of the Flies is symbolic to all the evil that is in humans. As Simon realizes that he was right about the beast, he tries to go back to the other boys to warn them about his discovery, but the Lord of the Flies gets angry. “This is ridiculous. You know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down there—so don’t try to

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an allegory that explores the instinctual evil humans possess and how this evil manifests into our societies. The book demonstrates this through young boys who are stranded on an island due to a plane crash. Despite their best efforts, the lack of adult guidance inhibits the boys from maintaining an orderly society. The boys turn to their survival instincts, many of which are evil. The lack of order exposes the internal savagery within the boys, resulting in an understanding of the flaws within all humanity. The Lord of the Flies uses the innocence of young boys to show the societal impact of human errors through their lack of adult supervision, the desire to inflict violence, and the need for authority over others.

Within the novel innocence is progressively lost through the boys. The boys were placed in a situation where they had no other choice but to grow up, and grow up fast. These boys were put in a very traumatic situation and they had to learn on their own and from each other how to survive and almost create a thriving society all on their own. Slowly they learn that their needs to be a leader, but there are no adults to precede the role of authority. Therefore the children resume power and take the role of authority. All these things make the boys lose their innocence and become very violent. No one is completely innocent and everyone has the ability to turn violent, this is demonstrated in William

Simon shows his individuality and cravings for tranquility and cognizance also through his participation with others. One instance when he truly displays this is when he was picking fruit from the “littluns”. The “littluns” and “lugged them towards the trees” and “Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach” (Golding,56). He feeds them alone and “when he had satisfied them”he “turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him” (Golding,56). This shows how through his clarity with nature and himself, he helps others and continues to portray that he prefers to think, act, and help others by himself. He also shows his individualism when he reacted to the death of the pig. With the chaos going around him, Simon isolates himself and “lowered his head, carefully keeping his eyes shut, then sheltered them with his hands” next to the pile of guts Jack and Roger left after penetrating the pig’s head with a stick (Golding,138). He ignores everything around him and tries his best to hide away from the monstrous actions the other boys are committing. This also supports the idea that he favors time alone in his own thoughts in peace rather than facing his fear. In

Simon was the only person in the book who interacted with the so-called beast. He saw that the physical form of the beast as the Lord of the Flies, a sow's head on a stick. Fear would have been struck through Simon as he heard the pig say: "There isn't anyone to help you only me. I'm the beast." Simon tried to run back to the camp but he came at the wrong time and was mistaken as the beast and was brutally

Being in an unknown area with no adults and unable to get help is a recipe for fear, which leads to chaos. “...a group of little boys urging him forward… “he wants to know what your going to do about the snake-thing”” (Document B). The little boys are scared and without comfort and reassurance, their minds wander into questions like; Are we ever going to get help? or what if there is a monster on this island? By externalizing their fears by associating an idea and name, like the beastie, they are able to control their worry and stay calm for a while. The chants and dances help convey those fears, but they soon add to the chaos and become uncontrollable. By killing Simon, thought as the Beast, they are able to prevail their fears momentarily, soon realizing “how small a beast it was” (Document

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

Simon tries to state the truth: there is a beast, but that "it's only us" (page #). When he makes this revelation, he is ridiculed. This is an uncanny parallel to the misunderstanding that Christ had to deal with throughout his life. Later in the story, the savage hunters are chasing a pig. Once they kill the pig, they put its head on a stick and Simon experiences an epiphany in which the Beast tells Simon: "Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!  You knew, didn't you? I'm part of all of you " (143).  As Simon rushes to the campfire to tell the boys of his discovery, he is hit in the side with a spear, his prophecy rejected and the word he wished to spread ignored.

Through all the fear and savagery, one boy saw through it all, and began to speculate as to what the beast really was, this boy being Simon. As the idea of a beast arises, the tribe becomes chaotic. Simon however, a persona of neither savagery nor civilisation, questions the existence of a beast. “Maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us” as quoted by Simon, shows that he believes that there is a beast, but not the same beast everyone else has in mind. Instead, Simon, unaffected by the fear, believes that the beast is within each boy. Later on in the book, Simon’s speculations are proven true, as in a vision, he sees the Lord of the Flies who confirms that "You knew, didn 't you? I 'm part of you? Close, close, close! I 'm the reason why it 's no go? Why things are what they are?"(Page 143). Simon also discovers the supposed beast is just a human being. Certain of this, Simon runs towards the tribe in order to tell them the truth. Fearful however, the boys see him as the beast and kill him and their only way of destroying the beast. From this, it is evident that the boys could not destroy the “beast” as they had killed the only boy who knew the truth.

The most important characteristic of Simon is his insightfulness. He is a mature and perceptive person, especially for his age. One example of this is when he says, “Maybe...Maybe there is a Beast,” (pg. 125) He explains his thinking on page 206, when he talks to the Lord of the Flies, a representation of evil, and implies that the Lord of the Flies is the Beast. Simon thinks that it is the evil in the boys and humanity in general. This shows he has insight into the nature of humans because it takes an insightful person to recognize that not everything is good, and our evil is our greatest enemy. Throughout the book, this perception drives Simon and keeps him pure.

During the younger boy’s explanation of the beast, Ralph “ push[es] both hands through his hair and looked at the little boy in mixed amusement and exasperation.”(page 35) Still retaining their civility, the older boys do not initially believe in the beast for they simply disregard it as a figment of their imagination. Nonetheless, the longer their stay on the island, the more the group accepts the existence of the beast. As they move further away from order whilst gravitating towards chaos, Simon points out “maybe it’s only us...” (page 96), insinuating that perhaps the beast is in fact the evil from within. Amid Simon’s confrontation with the Lord of the Flies, the sow teases him saying “You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you.” (page 158), confirming his previous proposal. Throughout the time of the feast held on the beach, Simon lays on a mat of creepers only to disclose the true identity of the beast; a dead parachutist. Upon his recent discovery, Simon makes his way down to the beast with the intention of revealing the reality. However, the boys have lost all sense of order, consequently mistaking him for the beast. As they hunt him down “ There [are] no words, and movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.” (page 169). Simon’s horrendous death is a result of the others’ complete descent into savagery. The beast, originally presumed as fantasy, is now present in the minds of those on the island, symbolizing evilness as well as a lack of

Simon is symbolized as things such as depression and loneliness which is very important, in the book because there is one point where someone says to the boys on the beach, which means that he thought about it while the others did not think about it. He thought about the problem and the things that the boys did, he becomes the beast himself. The story states, ”maybe we are the beast” (Golding).

The novel “Lord of the Flies” was written by William Golding to demonstrate the problems of society and the sinful nature of man.