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. Simon is the prime example of a superego. Simon stays true to his moral rules by, watching out for the boys and trying to keep civilization on the island. Simon gives food to Piggy, when nobody else will, without hesitation. Simon helps to build shelters instead of killing because he knows in order to be civilized he will need to have shelter and doesn’t want to include himself in any killing. When the boys plan to kill Piggy, Simon doesn’t even engage in their conversations. …show more content…
Although all of the other boys on the island are turning into savages, Simon does not follow. The other boys are becoming savages because it is instinct. Simon is not like the other boys, in this sense. Simon is a Christ-like figure, so he isn’t able to become savage. This island is a very harsh environment, so only the savage will be able to survive. The other boys are not always savage, as they have developed the savagery over time. Simon isn’t able to develop this and he isn’t able to survive on the island, just as piggy. Due to this Simon will not be able to survive. The novel is foreshadowing that Simon will not make it, as he has not turned savage “You’ll get back to where you came from” (Golding 111). This quote implies that other boys, such as Ralph, will get back and make it but Simon will not. William Golding, is showing that he believes everyone has some savage in them. Golding believes that as people are put into bad situations, the savage starts to come out. He shows this in the boys, the boys are very “normal” as they first arrive at the island, but the longer they stay the more savage they become. Simon isn’t becoming savage no matter how long he has been on the island because he is a Christ-like figure and the author wants to show that the boys become savage, but Christ would not. Golding is showing that he thinks all people are inherently
Simon has a heightened perception, even more so than Piggy. Simon is unique because he can actually hear the voice of the beast. He realizes that the beast is not something one can kill because it 's inside the boys. Simon is seen as a Christ figure. He gives up his own life in an attempt to tell the rest of the boys about the beast. Jack wants to take control over the whole society. Jack is the leading support of anarchy on the island. Jack is the leader of the savage tribe which hunts the pigs. Opposed to Ralph and Piggy on almost all matters, Jack represents the identification of one 's personality he supports the notion that one 's desires are most important and should be followed, regardless of reason or morals. Jack is the kind of person that is believed everyone would eventually become if left alone to set one 's own standards and live the way one naturally wanted. In this novel it is believed that the natural state of humans is disordered and that man is inherently evil. When reason is abandoned, only the strong survive. Jack personifies this idea perfectly.
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.
Simon is the one boy who never participates in destructive behaviors and always contributes to the well being of the boys. He continues to work even after everyone stops, gives Piggy food when no one else will, and speaks his mind about the beast. He is also the only one to realize that the true beast is inside the boys. Simon’s moral compass, much like the superego, allows him to see the evil of mankind. Simon is whole-heartedly good. The superego attempts to lead a person to the morally right pathway, much like Simon aims to show Ralph how he can do what’s best for the tribe. The primitive nature of the others overpowers Simon’s internal good nature. Even after his death, Simon’s moral nature lives on through the boys similar to how the superego can continue to shine after a person follows the desires of the id.
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
This reminds Jack and Ralph that there is a chance that the beast is real and there may be reason for all the fear. It also reveals that Simon's character is very much in touch with reality. He is not trying to push the fact that a beast could be on the island away from him. He is trying to deal with his fear and show the others that they can and should deal with theirs.
Unlike most the other boys Simon retains civil. Simon displays his maturity through the sacrifices he makes Golding writes, “Someone's got to go across the island and tell Piggy we'll be back after dark." Bill spoke, unbelieving. "Through the forest by himself? Now?" "We can't spare more than one." Simon pushed his way to Ralph's elbow." "I'll go if you like. I don't mind, honestly” (Golding 117). Furthermore, Simon’s death displays the groups true maturity Golding writes, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!” (Golding 152). This scene depicts the group killing Simon out of fear, this displays the island reveals their low maturity because they ignore reason and act in fear. Clearly the Goldings novel displays the island reveals maturity through
Simon attempts to comfort Ralph by ensuring him that he will eventually return back to home. Apparently, he cannot guarantee such a thing or give a precise date to Ralph, but, as one of the most matured boys on the island, and based on his intelligent to read the signs around him, realizes that Ralph is losing his hope and soon will end up like Jack. Thus, tries to encourage and motivate him, to look forward to the day of rescue. Also, in the novel, Simon, is considering a religious figure, more like an angel, who can predict the future. He is always there for Ralph, supporting him and providing the necessary information he needs in order to keep going with the life on the island.
The real problem during the boy's experience is they succumb in human nature. After some time on the island and civilization is slowly starting to rot Golding states, “Surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea" (Golding 154). To clarify, the boys as they were babies their parent always taught them to never murder anybody as a rule. As the boys start to realize that there are no rules on the island and are given freedom their human nature breaks and murders a little boy. Furthermore, after Simon's death, Jack wasn't done with lurking for more blood to spill, Golding says, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee: the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.
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
Throughout the novel Simon remains true to his Christ-like way. Simon may not aid in the killing of the pig but the island still affected him as he hallucinated himself having a bloody nose, and also vomited frequently. Simon was not completly christ like but the closest on the island, this quote shows how he did not always act as Jesus would have “Presently Ralph stopped and turned back to Piggy. “Look.” Jack and Simon retended to notice nothing. They walked on. “You can’t come.”” (31) Simon did not stand up for Piggy as he and Jack walked away and refused to let him hunt. In other sitautions Simon worked through the islands gift to him of vomiting and hallucinations and reamianed strong. This quote is an example of Simon and his christ like attitude, in this part of the novel the Jack and his followers were shouting “Kill the pig, cut her throat, spill her blood” (56) and Simon responded, “Simon shushed him quickly as though he had spoken too loudly in church.”(96-97) This shows chrsit like behavior as a comandment in Christianity
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Simon represents the innate morality of humans, acting as a Christ-like figure, while Roger embodies the all present cruelty and inherent sadism of individuals. Throughout the novel, Simon remains unchanged in terms of morality, as others slowly turn to savagery and hunting, as can be seen when Jack’s group become, “demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green.” Instead Simon finds a quiet spot “in a little cabin screened off from the open space by a few leaves.” By “holding his breath, he [cocks] a critical ear at the sounds of the island,” using his secret cabin to meditate. Coupled with his deep connection to nature, Simon is revealed to be a Christ figure. When left alone with the
Simon’s character is different from the boys on the island. After learning about Golding’s past I believe Simon represents hope for Golding and is someone he has always aspired to be. The characters in this book are in every one of us, but it is who we chose to be, that defines us. Simon was the only one able to recognize the truth about the beast. Through Simon, Golding’s message was that fear and shame are the biggest obstacles, but it is how we chose to overcome these beasts that matter. Simon was the only one who knew the truth, but after the boys kill Simon, it
Simon comes from a very rich and prestigious family. He is described as a short, skinny, vivid and young boy. He has got bright eyes and black & straight hair. Simon is the youngest of the bigguns and he is one of the only boys on the island that is spiritual and innocent because he often sacrifices himself for the rest of the group. Most characters in the novel like him because he is truly a good person and seems to be very polite, faithful, fair, wise, brave, quiet, helpful, generous and sensitive. This boy is the naturally moral character. He tries to impress Ralph, he is so loyal to him and he is the only boy who helps Ralph to build shelters while the others just play and have fun. Simon also protects Piggy when Jack is nasty towards him
Simon stands out from the rest of the group because he does not kill and engage in physical combat with the other boys, and his death is caused by his dismission of such violent activity. Shortly after the boys arrive on the island, the majority of them, including Jack
He is always helping the Littluns when they are struggling and many other boys that are vulnerable such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to piggy, who grabbed it" (Golding 74). This quote interprets an example of Simon showing his whole heartedness by giving Piggy food when Jack did not want to feed him because he did not hunt. "The vast majority of people reside prominently in civilized society, and they dismiss their instinct for aggression and dominance" (Wood, Bryan). This quote shows that people like Simon are always more civilized than those who begin to change into savages, Simon is the last piece of civilization on the island. "What I mean is...maybe it's only us" (Golding 89). Simon, himself, proposes to the rest of the boys that perhaps the beast is not only an external force, but an internal force within themselves. Simon is the only character to reveal Golding's point that innate human evil exists.