Character Analysis Of Simon In Lord Of The Flies

Throughout the novel Lord Of The Flies, the boys on the island are continuously faced with numerous fears. Subsequently there is nothing on the island which they fear more than the beast. The beast is not a tangible object that can be killed or destroyed by conventional means, but an idea symbolizing the primal savage instincts within all people. Its Golding’s intention to illustrate the innate evil inside man through his view of human nature, the actions of the Jack and his tribe, and the relationship between the beast and the school boys.

Ralph represents order and discipline, while Jack represents an unhealthy drive for power and savagery. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is voted the leader of the group and attempts to make life on the island disciplined and civilized, like their life in England. However, throughout the novel Jack rivals Ralph’s leadership role, attempting to overthrow him. As the boys’ savage impulses increase, more of them begin to side with Jack instead of going with Ralph. As Ralph loses his hold over the boys, almost all of them begin to act violently and barbaric. An example of this is when the children of the island murder Simon for no justifiable reason. Even Piggy and Ralph partake in the murder, showing that the violent human impulse is in

Children are savages by nature, when no adults are around. One kid on the island truly doesn’t have any savage in him. Simon is a Christ-like figure, that continuously stays true to himself and his morals. Simon will not let anyone or anything get in the way of this.

The tragedies that unfold their civilization occur when they brutally beat Simon to death. After Jack and his hunters place the mother sow’s head in the forest as an offer to the beast they think exists, Simon encounters it and sees that it is covered in flies. Suddenly, the head started to talk to Simon as he feels like he is going to faint. It identifies itself to be the Lord of the Flies. It says, “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 158). Simon then realizes that there is no physical beast, but a mental beast in each and every boy on the island. They all went from being joyful to a bunch of savages. Their

The character of Simon in William Golding's Lord of the Flies has often been viewed as the Christ figure of the novel. If you were to examine the actions of both Simon and Jesus, you would find a number of incidents that parallel each other.

Jack and his chosen group of hunters all follow Jack and fail to follow Ralph’s command to keep civilization under control. Simon and his natural behaviors contrast with Jack as he sees the positive interests and goodness in civilization. Simon’s actions reveal his shy, yet kind, and non confrontational attitude which makes the importance of his character hard to notice. Simon is the mediator on the island, as he will never decline a request from the little children for food, an order from Ralph to help build shelters, and tries to keep the peace between the hunters and the civilized boys. Simon can be seen as the most compassionate character on the island as displayed in this quote: “Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame” (Golding 74). Jack, on the other hand, is most malicious towards Piggy as he eventually becomes consumed by evil and and will attempt to destroy all points of civilization and innocence left on the island. Innocence is bestowed upon nearly all the boys trying to keep civilization alive on the island and is despised by Jack and his highly influenced choir boys turned hunters.

Throughout the time the boys were stranded on the island, Simon, in particular, displays his longing for peace and understanding. He not only desires those things but also desires to be alone in nature or alone when trying to understand. Golding first introduces this quality of Simon when Simon excluded himself from the “littluns” and goes into a secluded place in the forest where he seems to have found peace by communing with nature. He held “his breath...cocked a critical ear at the sounds of the islands” and brings himself into a meditative state (Golding,57). His actions of listening carefully to the “sounds of the bright fantastic birds, the bee-sounds, even the crying of the gulls” expresses his love of peace which he finds in nature

Simon and Beowulf prove themselves to be the exceptions. While the boys in Lord of The Flies are quickly reduced to violent savages by the mere idea of the ’Beastie’, Simon remains passive throughout the course of the novel. He realizes long before the others that the beast is not a physical being, but the product of “mankind’s essential illness’’ (Golding 89). This is realization made especially apparent when Simon converses with The Lord of the Flies, discovering that the Beast was not something one could ‘’hunt and kill’’, but something that was ‘’close, close, close’’ (Golding 143). Simon is the first to discover that the Beast was the manifestation of evil within all of the boys, and this knowledge eventually dies with

In the beginning, Simon likes Ralph very much. He always accompanies and helps him with work for example watching the fire, building the shelters, carrying the messages and in many more ways. When Ralph, Simon, Jack, and Roger go to the mountaintop for pig hunting, Ralph remembers about his old life of warm food, proper grooming, and children’s books. As Simon watches him, he estimates that Ralph is thinking about his old life and rescue from this island just as everyone else. He sits beside him and tells him, “You’ll get back to where you came from … For a moment nothing more was said. And then they suddenly smiled at each other.” [Page: 121] His prophecy leaves a foreshadowing of the deaths of himself and everyone else’s except Ralph’s. He

Simon is shown by Golding as a martyr who died for the truth. He gave

The appearance of Simon in the novel The Lord of the Flies is of great significance and is substantial for the development of the story because he made lots of points in the story. First of all, it is important to state that he sent simple, yet deep messages throughout the novel, with morals behind them. Religiously speaking, Simon can be identified as the Christ-figure in the story. Simon also had a very specific role in the novel in being the character in contact with nature. Simon's significance in the story is obvious, and one way to deduce this is by identifying his messages.

Golding also draws a parallel between Simon and Jesus Christ. When Simon converses with the Lord of the Flies, an equivalent to Satan, the Lord of the Flies told Simon, “We are going to have fun on this island! So don’t try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else- Or else, we shall do you? See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph. Do you” (143). In this conversation, the Lord of the Flies seems to tempt Simon to not interfere in the release and spread of savagery by threatening him with the fact that he will be killed by his own comrades if he does not embrace savagery. Also, Simon is able to even predict his own death if he were to die from attempting to prevent the spread and descent of the boys into savagery.

Even though Golding had an enormous amount of symbols throughout his novel, Simon is the first to recognize the complication posed by the beast and the “Lord of the Flies” that is, that the monster on the island is not a real, physical beast, but rather a savagery that lurks within each and every human being. As a final point, the loss of social structure within civilization can lead to the demise of the boys on the island whether it's between Ralph vs Jack, the boys vs the island, or even Simon vs

In the novel, Lord of the flies,written by William Golding illustrates symbolism through the life of the boys; therefore we have simon's isolation and piggy's intelligence and jacks chaos.

In English we read the book, “Lord of the Flies.” It was a book who’s author, William Golding, had written to show his view on man’s inherent true self. After going through WWII and seeing horrors that man would do to other man he became convinced man is inherently evil. The beast, a symbolic figure in the book, is the manifestation of the evil in every mans heart. This nonexistent beast tormented and manipulated the boys that were stranded on the island, eventually ruining the fragile civil society they built. William’s main point to bring across was even small boy, who’s ages range from five to twelve, can fall victim to the evil in