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- shy
- physically weak- often faints
- kind- he "found for them [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach" - sustainer- Simon as a Jesus/ Messiah figure. He is also the only one who helps Ralph to build the shelters. Also, when Jack won't give Piggy meat, Simon gives Piggy his meat.
- solitary- "he glanced swiftly around to confirm that he was utterly alone."
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- represents spirituality and the goodness inside all humans. His weaknesses (fainting, failure to explain himself) show that, although we all have good in us, evil is stronger. Innate human evil is a central idea in the novel.
- isolates himself from the other boys, does not turn savage.
- he is the most perceptive about the beast, he says "What I mean is ... maybe its [the beast] only us", he is the only character who realises that the beast is not an external being put a part of our human nature.
- he is a spiritual, Jesus-like figure, he never does anything to harm people, he is kind and helpful, he makes predictions (he says to Ralph "you'll get back alright", turns out to be true") . he dies because he tries to tell the others the truth about the beast but they reject it. Unlike the death of Jesus, Simon's death only leads to more savagery not the boys' salvation.
- There is lots of religious imagery related to Simon, possibly providing further evidence for the theory that he represents a Jesus or Messiah-like figure: his secret place in the forest has "candle buds" that open as he sits there alone, the beautiful images of him sitting in this area have connotations with a peaceful, spiritual church. Also when Simon dies, his body is carried out to the sea , the water surrounds his head with "brightness" like an angel's halo.
- He represents the Ego Ideal part of the superego according to Freud's theory of personality, his behaviour is innately good and he is truly aware of the nature of the beast but the boys never follow his example, showing the darkness of humanity.
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- Simon's death is the point of no return for the other boys, he is killed in a brutal way ("Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"), after the murder, the boys can't go back to being civilised. Even Piggy and Ralph partcicipate chowing
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- his failure to explain himself (Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind's essential illness") reminds the reader that he is a young boy struggling to express a complicated idea. The others mock him for this, suggesting that they won't accept that the beast is inside them in time to control it.
- He is at one with nature but in a peaceful way, very different to the savage way jack is at one with nature whilst hunting. After Simon's death, the weather becomes calm as if nature is mourning his death- pathetic fallacy.
- The conversation between Simon and the Lord of the Flies in chapter 8 is a confrontation between good and evil. It also confirms Simon's theory about the beast- the Lord of the Flies says "You knew didn't you? I'm part of you "
- Simon means "listener" in Hebrew, and is also the name of one of Jesus' apostles, Simon Peter
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