What is Simons Role in Lord of the flies?
Simon is the spiritual and compassionate character of the book. He is
the seeker of truth, and also the beholder of truth.
'The Lord of the flies' has many symbols and messages like one of
Aesop's fables and the story even has a moral. Each different
character in the book has a strong characteristic, which makes them
represent different types of people in the world. Simon's role in the
book is very important; he has hidden depth, inner strength and a
unique appearance. "There was a slight furtive boy whom no one knew,
who kept himself to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and
secrecy." This quote from the book describes Simon perfectly and gives
us the impression that Simon is somewhat different and special. When
he enters the book, Golding gives him special attention, "Then one of
the boys flopped on his face in the sand and the line broke up." Simon
un-intentionally breaks up the group bringing more attention to his
introduction. He is also special in looks; he is described as, "A
skinny vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from a hut of
straight hair that hung down, black and coarse." His hair hides his
face, this hints that he is secretive. None of the other characters
got such detail mentioned. Ralph understands Simon and notices that
there is a speciality about him. That is why Ralph chooses Jack and
Simon to go on the expedition at the beginning of the book. He feels
he and Simon have an inner understanding. Simon has a spiritual
atmosphere and is quiet and introverted. The other boys, who can't
understand Simon, think that he's odd and describe him as 'funny and
queer'.
Simon represents the mystic; He has vision and intuition and is th...
... middle of paper ...
... last, as he
floats away.
Simons role in 'lord of the flies' is necessary and crucial. He not
only plays the part of a spiritual and big-hearted human being,
bringing hope to the boys or mankind on a larger scale. Simon is also
a symbol of truth, and he shows us that one must not allow our fears
to get the better of us. Through his encounters, we realize that the
devil or evil is in all of us, even the cream of the crop. With this
realisation, we must learn to be able to control this desire and
sickness in mans hearts and, not let it surface for it would produce
disastrous effects, like in young Simon's premature death. Skilfully
Golding has also made use of Simon's character to show us that we are
part of nature, and being just that, we should treasure and respect it
just as Simon did, for we will return to nature in death. Such is the
circle of life.
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 is a lot different from all of the other boys not just because he can do spells but because he constantly expressed concern of the other boys. All other boys have different reactions to his fainting spell, like Piggy. Piggy falls to the floor and his glasses fall off his face. Piggy doesn't know what happened and can’t get up quite yet. All the other boys understand what kind of spells Simons doing. But they still tend to have effect such as illusions and hallucinations. Simon and the boys relate in some way, half of it because of the spells simon does.
In the book Lord of the Flies the charecter, Simon, is portrayed as a Christ-figure. He is shown to have all the qualities Christ has: intelligence, determination, and resiliance. Simon also is portrayed like Christ physically, he is skinny and not a strong person. Simon was very calm, kind, and he enjoyed being alone when ever he could.
Their actions are what makes them different from other characters or people in their stories. For example, both Christ and Simon have two different identities. Christ was a Jewish man and, in Christianity, the son of God. Simon also shared the fact that he has two identities. His first identity was that he was dedicated to Ralph. He made sure to follow Ralph with his decision making and do whatever Ralph wants him to do. He does so because he want to return to the way things were before the crash. He wanted to go home in a civilized manner and not in savagery. He helped build shelters for Ralph and was one of the few core support of Ralph. Simon's second identity was a mature, spiritual self. He would always go to the forest to meditate and become one with the island to further his understanding of it. Just like he was compassionate towards others and their feelings, he was sensitive towards the island. When he visits the forest, it is as if his spiritual alter ego shows up and takes over him. “Then he… walked into the forest with an air of purpose… he wormed his way into the center of the mat… holding his breath he cocked a critical ear at the sounds of the island,” (Golding 55-57). This shows that Simon is different from the other boys. It shows that Simon has a deeper understanding of what is happening on the island that the other boys don’t know
he has a friendly aura about him that is recognised by Ralf as soon as
Simon turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him. Soon the 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).
Golding makes very good use of characters in Lord of the Flies, he shows both good and evil through each of the characters. One of the characters that represents goodness is Simon. He is very good and pure, and has the most positive outlook. Simon is very different from the other boys, he seems to always be helping the Littluns and many other vulnerable boys such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it." (Golding, pg.74) This quote interprets an example of a time when Simon helped Piggy by giving him food, it shows Simon's wholeheartedness. Another example would be when Simon helps the Littluns pick fruit from high to reach places. All in all Golding tries to portray Simon as a Christ like figure.
As Simon was trying to tell the boys that the beast did not exist, his death symbolises that mankind can’t face the truth about their inner desires.
The connection of Simon to nature is clear throughout this passage. As nature provides him with a natural halo and as Simon's body floats away, so does the best part of human nature symbolically. The passage shows the events occurring after Simon dies and how the effect and portray the tone. The tone of serenity is portrayed throughout the passage showing Simon’s death journey pulls in a state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled in the air. William Golding’s novel has many beautifully detailed passages which describes the séance in detail but these four paragraphs map out the true journey of the death of Simon.
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.
One of the characteristics of spiritual power is that the power is derived from inner beauty and purity of thought and behavior. Simon shows this by truly caring about the boys, because that is just the kind, caring, sort of person Simon is. He even takes care of the little ones that nobody really seems to care about. He “found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands” (Golding 138).... ...
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.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.