In the novel Lord Of The Flies, William Golding shows the character of Simon as a Religious figure by comparing him to Christ. Within his life, Jesus treated children with great kindness as he believed “heaven belongs to [them]” (Matthew 19:14). Simon treats children kindly in the same manner, such as when he “pulled the choicest [fruit and] passed back down to the [children]” (56). Simon seems to be the only biggun who cares at all about the little kids. He is the only one who feeds them or even pays attention to them. Through the treatment of the littluns, Golding is able to reveal to the reader how evil man is. The boys from Jack’s tribe, the evil tribe, repeatedly demean the littluns by joking about killing them, kicking over their sand castles, and even …show more content…
He shows himself to be pure and sinless by praying with children after his disciples try to turn them away. Both Simon and Jesus reveal themselves to be morally better than others through their treatment of children. Another similarity between Jesus and Simon is the fact that they are both killed for trying to spread the good news, for Jesus that news was that he was the son of God, and for Simon it was the fact that “[t]he beast was harmless and horrible“ (147). After Simon speaks with the Devil, he knows that he has a duty to tell the others that the beast does not really exist except in each one of the boys. Once he gets down to the beach though, the boys mistake him for the beast and violently tear him limb for limb. The irony is that the other boys kill Simon because they believe he is the beast, yet Simon is the only boy with no beast in him. Simon never murders a pig or another boy, his purpose was only to share his knowledge so the others could be enlightened like he was, but in the end the boys kill him and never learn the truth about the beast, that it is really just the evil devil inside them. Jesus, too, was killed for trying to educate
One reason Simon is regarded as the Christ figure in Lord of the Flies is that he commits many selfless acts just like Jesus Christ did. Simon chooses to stay and help Ralph build huts rather than go play with the other inhabitants. Ralph compliments Simon by saying “Simon. He Helps. All the rest rushed off. He’s done as much as I have” (54). Golding also illustrates Simon’s generosity when “Simon pulled off the choicest fr...
Simon is first depicted as a Christ-like figure when he helps the littluns get the fruit they can not reach. “[The littluns] talk, [cry] out unintelligibly, [lug Simon] towards the trees. Then...Simon [finds] for them the fruit they [can] not reach, [pulls] off the choicest from up in the foliage, [and passes] them back to the endless, outstretched hands [of the littluns]”(56 Golding). In the bible, they reference people as sinners who cannot ever achieve holiness without the help of Jesus Christ. The littluns represent the
In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the concept of good fighting evil is clearly shown to be a big picture. In many cases, Jesus Christ represents good and bliss in the universe, while the devil represents evil. In this novel the reader sees the when good fights evil, the evil is a good turned evil. For example, before the devil became evil, he was an angel. He was good turned evil and is now fighting good. Simon represents the good and bliss, he is the Christ figure on the island while evil and savagery is shown in the other boys on the island. Both Simon and Christ share common qualities, actions, and deaths. Simon shows this throughout the novel, from the beginning until the time of his death.
Imagine a life that is detached from civilization and free from any socially imposed morals. In the story Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys is faced with this situation, and there is a perpetual conflict between the boys who are trying to maintain order and those whose violent instincts take over. Despite Ralph’s efforts to maintain order on the island and get the boys rescued, the boys, including Ralph himself, resort to violent and primitive behavior, and this is what causes Simon’s death. Whereas the other boys on the island lose their moral principles once savagery takes over, Simon retains his morals and does nice things such as helping the younger boys find food. In Lord of the Flies, Simon represents the speck of intrinsic morality and perceptive reasoning on the island, and unlike the other boys, he demonstrates morality as a way of life rather than a socially-imposed concept that is to be quickly lost in the wake of uncertainty.
As Jack hunts his “frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad” which shines in his slowly deranging eyes (Golding 67). In Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, stranded boys struggle to find order and civilization on an island with no other humans. After their plane crash lands, a few boys, such as Ralph and Piggy, are quick to set up standard rules. But, not everyone agrees that rules and rescue are what is most important. Jack, a boy who cares more about hunting, disrupts the goodness and order that remains in the boys. When a simulated hunting influenced and led by Jack goes awry, the boys kill Simon. The now deceased Simon is the purest and kindest of the boys. Jack leads the elimination of the only good left on their island. Whether it is his intention to kill him or not, Jack should be held responsible for Simon’s demise because he leads the group to kill him, regardless of his age.
Simon as Christ in Lord of the Flies. The role of the prophet changes with the society in which he lives. In modern society, a prophet is a visionary, telling people what they can become; in Biblical times, a prophet was the voice of God, telling his people what they had to become to fulfill their covenant with God. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the prophet is a peaceful lad, Simon.
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.
Through the story Simon acted as the Christ Figure. The death of Simon symbolized the loss of religious reasoning. As the boys killed Simon they had let out their savage urges and acted in a cannibalistic manor. Even after the death of Simon Jack and his tribe did not feel any penitence to what they had done, killing to them had become second nature.The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe."Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" (Golding 141).In this quote a figure had crawled out of the forest and the ring had opened to let it inside. Mistaken as the beast by the Jack's tribe, Simon was beaten to death. After the group disbanded for shelter from the storm. The storm subsided and the tides moved in and out, Simon's body was washed to sea. Here because of the storm, the darkness and fear the boys became hysterical. They acted savagely not knowing what they were doing. The boys did not take a second look to what their actions were. They had let their malicious urges control them. He cam-disguised. He may come again even though we gave him the head of our kill to eat. So watch; and be careful (Golding 148). Here Jack is warning his tribe about the beast. Not caring or taking any notice to what had taken place with Simon. Jack or his tribe does not feel any remorse for the murder they had committed, whether they realized that or not. To Jack and his tribe what they had done was a pretentious accomplishment. A death could go by their eyes blindly.
Bullies, while they might be horrible, turn out to be harmless when confronted, just like Simon when he confronted the Beast. 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 in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, not just for all this, but because he is what every person should wish to be.
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding expresses the idea that humans are naturally immoral, and that people are moral only because of the pressures of civilization. He does this by writing about a group of boys, and their story of survival on an island. The civilized society they form quickly deteriorates into a savage tribe, showing that away from civilization and adults, the boys quickly deteriorate into the state man was millions of years ago. This tendency is shown most in Jack, who has an animalistic love of power, and Roger, who loves to kill for pleasure. Even the most civilized boys, Ralph and Piggy, show that they have a savage side too as they watch Simon get murdered without trying to save him. Simon, the only one who seems to have a truly good spirit, is killed, symbolizing how rare truly good people are, and how quickly those personalities become corrupted.
Simon is a Jesus figure, Ralph and jack are like Cain and Abel, and the boys start to have a Pagan religion and treat the beast like a god; supporting the theory that Lord of the Flies can best be read as a religious allegory. Golding was trying to demonstrate that references to God and religions are everywhere. The need for religion and hope causes many people to show religious symbols in their art. Everyone worships something; everyone needs religion and religious symbols.
The character of Simon in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies has often been viewed as the Christ figure of the novel. If you were to examine the actions of both Simon and Jesus, you would find a number of incidents that parallel each other.
Golding drives the point that the instinctual evil within man is inescapable. At one point in the book, when the Lord of the Flies is representing all evil, this theory is stated as, "The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon" (Golding 130). Along with this idea is the religious symbolism that is used for ineffectively confronting the evil. At a point in the book, Golding has Simon, symbolic of Jesus Christ, confront the Lord of the Flies. This is a pig's head on a stick that is imagined to talk and represent the evil in all humans. Simon tries to act and spread the knowledge of this evil to others but is killed. This is a direct reference to the death of Christ, alluding to the Holy Bible.
Simon is the morally good boy. His selflessness and goodness comes from within. He is kind to the little boys, and helps the outcasts. For example, when none of the boys want to give Piggy meat from the first pig, Simon steps up and takes him meat. "Simon…wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy…"(p.74) While everyone else is cruel to the young ones, he helps the "lil'uns" grab meat from the trees when they can't reach. "Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest…passed them back to the endless, outstretched hands." (p.56) Simon helps those whom no one else is kind to, perhaps remembering that he was looked down upon once. He realizes what it's like to be scorned and to be the "little one", so he tries to make it less miserable for the outcasts by being kind to them. He wants to always help others, so when he discovers the beast is inside of everyone, not external, as they had imagined, he instantly runs down the mountain to tell him. He helps others even to the point of death.
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.