Lord of the Flies - Simon

Simon is a character from William Golding's Lord of the Flies. He is the first to be killed on the island and is the only person to know the truth about the Lord of the Flies.

This is a basic overview - not everything's covered. Oh and there's no guarentee that Simon will come up in the exam.... Hope it helps anyway!

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  • Created by: Elle
  • Created on: 23-05-10 18:07

Basics

When we first meet Simon, he is introduced as a member of the choir led by Jack. He faints, possibly due to the heat of the island or an epilectic fit.

It is implied that he has epilepsy - "he felt one of his moments coming on."

He helps stick up for Piggy in small ways, for example by finding his glasses for him. This shows that he is a good person, however he doesn't directly stand up to Jack. This suggests that he is still under Jack's power, as he is used to Jack leading the choir. But later he does not join Jack - because he is away in the forest. Perhaps this shows that he doesn't pick sides?

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Jesus

Simon could be seen as a representation of Jesus Christ. He is kind, even to Piggy, whom most of the boys have marked as an outsider. He also continues to help Ralph build shelters when the other boys leave them to it.

When out walking, he is followed by a group of littluns, who he helps by getting fruit for them from the trees. This could be a metaphor for Jesus giving his disciples knowledge.

Simon goes out into the forest and finds a secret, idyllic place. This could be Heaven, as it is suggested as being beautiful. He seems to have a link with nature, as the place he finds has butterflies dancing in it and the plants seem exotic and beautiful. Everything seems perfect there until the hunters leave their mark, showing that man can ruin everything.

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Temptation

When he goes out to the clearing in the forest, Jack and a few hunters have left a pig's head there as an offering to the Beast. This appears to talk to Simon.

This could be a portrayal of Simon as Christ-like, as in the Bible we are told about how Jesus went out into the desert for 40 days and nights and was tempted by the Devil.

The pig's head tells Simon to go back and join the other boys, but when he does he is killed... Could this be the temptation? However Jesus did not give in to temptation in the Bible, so this is where he may differ from Simon, as Simon does eventually join the others again.

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Truth

Simon is the only boy to find out the truth about the parachutist not being the Beast, but is killed before he can pass this message on to the other boys. In a way this is quite ironic; it is because he is trying to tell the others about safety that he is killed. Jesus was also killed for trying to pass on a message - the word of God.

In a meeting about the Beast, he suggests that the Beast is just the boys themselves, but nobody understands him or takes him seriously.

When the pig's head talks to Simon, he says "You knew, didn't you? That I'm part of you?" This shows that Simon is clever as he is the only one to understand the nature of man.

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Christ, Prophet or Outsider?

When talking to Ralph, he tells him that he will get home. This suggests that he may to some extent be able to see the future. He never mentions himself getting home - maybe he knew that he himself would not make it.

The other boys call him "funny" and "queer" and he seems to be an outsider - a bit like Piggy. Also, he is not always understood. Maybe there is no place for him in a civilisation moving away from religion.

His isolation from some of the boys does not seem to bother him - he seems happy to go off by himself and find peace and quiet. But he is helpful to all the other boys, suggesting that really he wants to fit in with them.

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Death

Simon is the first boy on the island to die (other than a littlun lost in the first fire that went out of control). He was attacked by the other boys when he is mistaken for the beast.

This shows how fear amongst the boys got out of hand - they seemed to become the beast when they used not spears but their "teeth and claws" to rip him apart.

Simon never passes on the message that the Beast is harmless, so the boys continue to live in fear of it.He could be seen as Christ-like because Jesus died as a sacrifice to save the rest of humanity. Simon dies when trying to save the others from fear by tellling them that there is no Beast, but they never hear. In this way he differs from Jesus - he dies in vain whilst Jesus died for a cause.

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After the Death

Ralph calls his death murder, whilst Piggy says it was an accident. Neither of them admit to taking part, however it is implied that they were part of the group that killed Simon.

Ralph later (the last chapter) tries to see the best in the other boys and says that the death was not murder but an accident. This is probably because he wants to remain hopeful that the boys will not kill him.

Ralph also seems to draw strength from Simon's memory when he remembers what he said to him about getting home. However this seems to fade from his memory as the savagery takes over more and more of the boys. In this way Simon could be seen as a representation of civilisation on the island. Things get worse and worse but when he dies they suddenly go downhill quickly.

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Beautification / Ressurection

Simon seems to share a strong link with nature throughtout. This is emphasised when strange creatures appear to him after his death.

After his death, his body is "beautified." It seems silver in the moonlight, and the passage is calm and contrasts to the terror and tension of the death itself.

This could all be representative of Jesus, as Jesus was ressurected. However Simon does not come back - perhaps he goes to Heaven instead?

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