Lord of the Flies: Simon as a Christ Figure Essay

to a feast and that is the night when Simon was killed by the tribe

The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is an allegory that connects the boys’ behavior in the novel to the basic behavior of human nature. In the novel, the boys fear a wild beast that has the potential to kill them off. However, Simon, a quiet boy, finds that the beast is not an animal that everyone should fear, but is a part of each boy himself.

     Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies in chapter nine can be seen as a parallel to Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in the desert. Simon and Jesus were both challenged by evil but overcame it. Although, the Lord of the Flies would reveal to Simon that it is the evil within the boys, “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?” (Golding 143). From this, he reaches an epiphany and later leaves to tell the other boys. While returning to tell the boys, Simon is hit in the side by a spear. Jesus was also stabbed in the side before his crucifixion.

Human’s innate behavior after the constraints and expectations of society disappear is the recurring theme centering the characters. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies uses the righteous Simon to highlight Jack and his evil role throughout the novel of savagery and civilization. The foil characters in Lord of the Flies exhibit the contrasting ideals and characteristics, the dissimilar symbolism of both characters, and the circumstances which lead both characters to follow one’s natural tendencies. To emphasize the message of Lord of the Flies, two young innocent boys will gradually begin to show their individualism.

In this book, Simon’s death was meant to be represented as Jesus’ death and communion. This is shown by, Simon was betrayed and killed by his friends. This is just like how Jesus was betrayed and killed by his followers. Also Simon was killed like a crucifixion shown by, ¨At once the crowd surged after

Simon, one of the major characters in the story, is set as the allusion of Jesus. Christ always had an affinity with children; in Ch. 4, he shows his way with the ‘littluns’ by picking fruit for them. This shows his goodness by nature. Also, like Christ, he saw the atavistic problem of the hunters and tried to bring them back to good. As in the bible, Simon, like Christ, dies

Although there are numerous reasons why Simon is a Christ figure, there is one event in the novel that truly separates Simon as being a Christ figure.This event is when Simon sacrifices his life. Simon is killed by the other boys because he is thought to be the beast, a threat to all of them. Simon knew he was going to die while on the island and accepts his fate. By dying, Simon saves Ralph

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

Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” They saw Simon, thought he was the beast, so they brutally killed him out of fear.

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.

Simon falls to the ground dead and is described as beautiful and pure. The description of his death, the manner in which he died, and the cause for which he died are remarkably similar to the circumstances of Christ's life and ultimate demise. The major difference is

Simon is not the leading protagonist of the novel but he represents Jesus, who would

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 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 faints continuously throughout the story, which gives the impression that he’s weak. “Then one of the boys flopped on his face in the sand and the line broke up” (20). This is the first time Simon faints. “ ‘He’s [Simon] always throwing a faint,’ said Merridew” (20). Here Jack Merridew admits that Simon has fainted a lot in the past and should be just left alone on the sand. “Simon was inside the mouth. He fell down and lost consciousness” (144). When he imagines that the sow’s head is talking to him, he has a seizure near the end of the conversation and blacks out. This is the last time he fainted until his life ended. Simon faints a lot throughout the story giving others the impression he is weak and sickly, but in truth he is a very strong, caring person.