Simon Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

Simon is easily the most important character in William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies, a book where several schoolboys find themselves on an island after a plane evacuating them from war-ridden Britain. The book documents their attempts to create a civilized society to wait for rescue, and how the inherent savage instinct of humans ruined the peace and destroyed rhyme and reason. Simon is a gateway to the intentions of the novel for the readers. His character changes throughout the book, such as when he faints, when he tells Ralph to continue as the leader, and, arguably at the apex of the book, when he hallucinates the Lord of the Flies.

When the reader first reads about Simon, he’s just a young boy who has just “… flopped on his face in the sand.” (20) Jack indicates that this is a long term disorder when he says that Simon is “always throwing a faint.” (20) Later in the book, he also hallucinates, both traits being indicative of epilepsy. This is fairly important because it leads directly to the discovery of the true beast through a vision of the Lord of the Flies. Most of the others seem to think that he’s weak and frail for fainting, but mentally, he’s anything but; he finds the truth and would be the ultimate savior of the island’s humanity if it weren’t for his untimely death.

Later in the book,

He comes to terms with this through his mental struggle with his Lord of the Flies, which is interestingly a direct translation of “Beezlebub,” another name for the devil. He sees the evil inside the children, and in his wariness to not overtaken by it, is killed by those who were not wary enough. Simon’s character development is compounded by the revealing of his implied epilepsy, his decidedly noble ability to express opinions through turmoil, and his hallucination and revelation with the Lord of the