The Character of Simon in William Golding's Lord of the Flies Throughout William Golding's, Lord of the Flies, many of the characters go through changes in their personality traits. From beginning to end, Simon goes through the smallest amount of change than anyone in the novel. Despite the fact that Simon did not really fit in with the other boys, he tried his hardest to make a difference in his and the other's lives. In the beginning, Simon was described as a 'skinny, vivid little boy…,'; (Golding 24) showing that he was undersized and possibly weaker than the others. He stuck around Ralph for a while, went exploring with him and Jack, and even helped him build the shelters. It was not long before he began to wander off by himself to that little place among the creepers. The other boys thought he was 'queer….funny.'; (55) because he was an outcast and rather strange. Towards the middle of Simon's stay on the island, he started to realize that he truly was different from the others. Every time he tried to talk to the other children, his 'effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless to his seat.';(89) Just when he thought he had been accepted he embarrassed himself again, 'When he bashed into a tree Ralph looked sideways impatiently and Robert sniggered.';(104) They were getting restless with his behavior. In the end, he was trying more to tell the boys what he knew, but they just thought he was weird. He told Ralph, 'You'll get back alright.';(111) Ralph's response was only that he thought Simon was 'batty.'; In another instance, he went to tell the others that he found out what the beast really was (the parachutist), but got caught in their bestial dance. They heard him 'crying something about a body on the hill,'; (152) but it was too late. In the darkness, he had been mistaken for the beast and was killed. Although Simon's life was a short one and he did not have the time to go through much change, he proved that there was hope for being rescued.
In Golding’s book Lord of the Flies Simon is a very significant character, who strangely isn’t made very familiar with the reader until the end of chapter three. At this point in the book the group of school boys who have crash-landed on this uninhabited island, have found a course of action. Unfortunately, not all the boys are working hard to accomplish what needs to get done. Jack is set on catching a pig, Ralph on getting rescued, and the rest of the boys are enjoying their time without adult supervision. While Ralph and Jack are busy arguing over what needs to get done Simon sneaks away for some peace and quiet. At this point in the novel Golding then follows Simon’s walk alone into the forest. Through this Golding effectively establishes
-Simon continues to show his good nature by trying to cheer Ralph up, which is a continual thing; I believe that Simon is meant to represent peace and frankly a bit of a Christ figure, as he is the epitome of nice, and his place in the forest is almost spiritual.
Simon appreciates how peaceful and beautiful the island is , but as he journeys deeper he finds The Lord of the Flies (the boars head) impaled at its center, the main symbol of how the innocence of childhood has been corrupted by fear and savagery. When Ralph is first introduced, he is acting like a child, splashing in the water, and laughing. He tells Piggy that his father, a naval commander, will rescue him. Ralph repeats his belief in their rescue throughout the novel, shifting his hope that his own father will discover them. To the more realistic idea that a passing ship will be attracted by the signal fire on the island. By the end of the novel, he has lost hope in the boys' rescue altogether. Notice how he goes from being optimistic to pessimistic his childhood wishes and fantasies are lost in the savagery and harshness of the jungle.
Simon was the observant character, the quiet philosopher. He was often alone, sometimes by his own choice, and he liked to wander into the peaceful jungle. He sincerely cared about the other boys, sometimes helping the young ones to fetch fruit, yet "Simon turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him. Soon high jungle closed in" (56). He loved solitude and yet felt loneliness; he was alien to the other boys. The boys did not think anyone would be stupid enough to go into the jungle by night: "The assembly grinned at the thought of going out into the darkness. Then Simon stood up and Ralph looked at him in astonishment" (85). Many of the boys even thought he was "batty" because he left the group to spend time alone.
Simon’s secret place in the jungle brings him comfort and peace. However, once he has the profound realization of the inescapable evil in every human, Simon becomes delirious and ventures into a clearing, where he finds the parachutist, and eventually the beach, where he is brutally murdered. This shows the escalation of the level of savagery of the boys on the island. It is no coincidence that Golding put Simon’s death in a place where he was vulnerable – out of the comfort he felt in the jungle. In the passage that describes Simon’s death, he is described as “a thing…crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly” (Golding 152). This shows that Simon is not his true self when he is separated from nature, and that he was uncomfortable and confused. Simon’s good, genuine character is shown best when he is directly connected to
Whereas Ralph and Jack struggle against each other, Simon represents a kind of innocent and spiritual human. Simon had been a member of Jack’s choir, but unlike the other choir members he chooses not to hunt animals. Rather, he would like to help Ralph to make the shelter. Furthermore, Simon is brave ...
Throughout the realistic novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding has repeatedly used many of his characters as a representation of many abstract ideas that relate to the whole human society, as in how we form civilization, and how easy it is for us to turn away from it. These ideas are expressed through the characters´ descriptions, their conversations, and actions. Simon, one of the main characters in the book who still retains to his civilized way of thinking contrasts to many other boys who have subdued to their nature of savagery, is the representation of natural goodness, spiritual figure in a non-religious way, due to his spiritual vision, his awareness of the beast’s true identity, and the way he interacts toward other boys.
Simon was the kind of person who kept to himself and looked at the world from a different point of view. His disease made him take life much more seriously than the rest of the group. The ironic thing about this is that even though he took life more seriously than others, he was the first to die. He was different because he was a member of the choir and unlike the other member of the choir, he did not hunt. Even Ralph was quoted as saying he was funny and queer. But he was right. He did not like the company of the other boys because on page 132 of the book, he is seen in his little bower where he just sits and becomes one with his mind. Most of the other boys are seen playing but not Simon. His maturity level and intelligence were far greater than some adults in this day and age.
Simon is a symbol of peace who sees only good in the world. The name Simon itself means, listener, and depicts Simon's character well as he always listens instead of giving an alternative opinion. Although at times his opinion differs from the others, he never complains. Simon's great sacrifice for the boys, dying for their sin, is a trait of a martyr. Simon's death results in a change of his affect on the boys and on the reader. Because he is killed by the other boys, he begins to represent the evil that has dominated over the good on the island.
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.
Ralph and simon that the rest of the kids horesplay was a bad idea. In the novel Golding writes, “Shouting that he is the beast, the boys descend upon Simon and start to tear him apart with their bare hands and teeth. Simon tries desperately to explain what has happened and to remind them of who he is, but he trips and plunges over the rocks onto the beach. The boys fall on him and violently kill him” ( ). This just goes to show us that the other boys’ horseplay and beliefs lead to bad things. Ralph did not take part in this act because he knew what was wrong.
The Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding. Simon is one of the major characters in this novel. Simon’s character lives by what is morally right as opposed to the rest of the island. Simon represents essential human goodness. There are many biblical parallels in the Lord of the Flies that result in Simon being compared to Christ.
Simon was the first and only one to realise the real beast on the Island. He could be compared to someone like a priest or a good samaraton – someone who tries his best to convince everyone of what’s right.
In the end, even though he failed to inform the other boys of it, Simon through his use of spiritual power was able to recognize the truth. He stood strong against evil even though it consumed the island after his death. People can look to him as an example of how to act in real life. And to be honest, Simon is an important character to Lord of the Flies by William Golding, not just for all this, but because he is what every person should wish to be. In the book the others bully him because they do not quite understand him, but Simon in all reality is a role model for the world. Don’t you think that the world would be a much better place, if we all tried to act a little bit like Simon?
Jack interrupts him but settles down because Ralph still has possession of the conch. Lastly, Ralph talks about how things have been breaking down between the group on the island and hopes that they can fix everything to be happy again. The “beast” is brought up again with when Phil one of the little kids saying he saw it moving in the dark after waking up from his nightmare. Of course, the other boys say it is a dream but Simon admits he was out in the night. Percival also mentions that the beast “comes out of the sea”. After the boys’ brief discussion of what the beast could be, they ask Simon for his opinion. Simon is the only one to be aware that the beast may be “only us” or themselves as he is unable to express “mankind’s essential illness” in