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The uses of symbolism in the novel Lord of the Flies
Examine the symbolism of the Lord of the Flies
Essay on symbolism in lord of the flies
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Simon is Better than Everyone While reading a novel readers tend to be drawn to the characters they relate to most. It is not always the protagonist, it is usually the character that is the most morally agreeable. In the novel The Lord of the Flies ,written by William Golding, a group of British schoolboys experienced a plane crash and have to deal with the obstacles of living on an island with no adults. The boys childish ways make them quickly fear a concept of a ‘beastie’, but naively ignore the other more obvious dangers like fire, weather, and themselves. Golding uses a variety of character traits to create Simon, an outcast of the group of boys, who says and thinks things that most readers agree with. In the novel, Simon displays traits …show more content…
of insightfulness, kindness, and bravery to help the other boys understand the nature of their fear. In the Lord of the Flies the reader learns that what Simon lacks in good health and physical attributes, he makes up in his insight on the boys.
Simons deep understanding of human nature allows him to realize they should be more scared of themselves than the ‘beastie’. Near the end of the story when Simon encounters the lord of the flies, which is actually just Simons conscious, The Lord of the Flies says “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill![...]You knew didn't you? I’m part of you?’”(Golding 143) This demonstrates how Simon knew that all along themselves are what they should be fearing the most. The insightfulness shown in Simon helps him understand that the boys are the real beast who are far more capable of death and destruction then the ‘beastie’. Simon’s knowledge of the cruelty of human nature allows him to try to convince the other boys who they should really be afraid of. Although little listen to what he has to say, Simon still tries to help the boys understand what they should really be afraid …show more content…
of. Simon is one of the only morally ‘good’ characters, who acts very unselfish in many ways. Because of Simon's kindness, he tried to help the boys with their fear of the ‘beastie’. He did not have to help but he still did. While discussing what the beast was Simon tried to talk and give his advice, but was laughed at for stuttering. “Simon’s effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank defenseless to his seat” (Golding 89) This shows how he is kind because he genuinely tried to help the boys, but was laughed at. As previously said, even though most of the boys have been nothing but rude to Simon, he continues to try and help the boys. While the reader does not exactly know why, they can infer Simon is helping them because he wants to keep the boys from descending further into savagery. Simon is described to be very small and acts very timid around the other boys, however he is one of the only characters who exhibit true acts of courage.
Simons bravery in the end is what truly kills the idea of the beastie, both metaphorically and literally. When the boys split up into two different groups Simon suggest “‘I think we ought to climb the mountain’ [...] ‘What else is there to do?’”(Golding 128) When Simon decided to climb the island and see what the ‘beastie was’ he did not do it for him, but he did it for the boys. He knew that the beast wasn't real but he knew the boys wouldn't believe him unless they had proof. Although he wasn't scared of anything, Simon’s bravery comes from the fact he knew he would be a social outcast from this and he still went. Simon’s bravery to tell the boys near the end is what gets him killed. Simon could most likely see how savagely the boys were acting, but still decided to stagger down to tell them that the beast was not real, but gets brutally killed. This event symbolizes two things. It symbolizes how the flame of goodness can be snuffed out by the darkness of human cruelty. It also symbolizes how evil the boys are, and even though they fear the beastie, they are the beastie
themselves. In the group of boys, Simon’s differences make him an outcast, but in reality his unique traits make him stronger and wiser than the other boys. Simon uses his insightfulness, kindness, and bravery to help the boys overcome the beastie. Simon displays these traits to help the other boys understand the nature of their fear. The death of Simon is a concluding point on where those traits are shown since he somewhat sacrificed himself for the greater good of the boys.
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.
A group of kids got stuck on an island after their plane got shot down and they all have many different personalities. Being stuck on an island usually brings out the worst of people.But, there were two characters in novel, “The Lord of The Flies” that had good morals. These two characters were Ralph and Simon. Ralph and Simon weren’t intimidated by not having any adults around, instead, they tried to bring out the best of themselves and not take part in any horseplay the rest of the boys did.
Our first aspect of Fear in the novel comes into play with the Beast. This fictional character becomes the center of the boys problems on the island and brings a long chaos and death. Simon is murdered due to the befuddlement of Simon being mistaken as the beast when in fact he was the jesus like figure and his death was a representation of sacrifice. The beast was not something tangible it was simply the boys because the beast was themselves. Our biggest demons in life rest within oneself, and on the island the beast was just a justification for the boys to blame their wrong doings on. William Golding refers to this using the role of simon by stating: “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are" (158)?
The boys’ fear of the beast causes them to pay no attention to their morals and act savagely to defeat it. However, Simon is ultimately able to understand the beast and avoid savagery because his embrace of nature allows him to avoid any fears of the island. Simon demonstrates this lack of fear when he climbs the mountain by himself in order to find the beast, despite the dangers that might await him. The hunters and even Piggy and Ralph want to avoid the mountain because that is the last place where the beast was seen, but Simon seems to Once he reaches the top, he finds a physical beast, but not the kind the boys were expecting: a dead parachutist. The parachutist serves as an ironic symbol of Simon’s understanding; the monster the boys were afraid was a human. In contrast, Piggy displays immense fear throughout the novel, especially about Jack. For most of the story, his appreciation of logic and order help him remain civilized, but eventually his fears overcome him and he acts savagely the night of Simon’s murder. As Golding states, “[Piggy and Ralph] found themselves eager to take place in this demented but partly secure society….[the crowd] leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (136). After this occurrence and the theft of his glasses, Piggy decides to
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.
In the Lord of the Flies fear takes over the boys and cause things to go downfall. The boys in Lord of the Flies might be afraid of the beast, but that fear turns out to be more dangerous than any beast could possibly be. The Lord of the Flies even says to Simon that “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?
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.
Simon, the wisest, calmest, and maturest of all the boys, is off by himself “talking” to a pig, perhaps going crazy. All others are sitting around the fire relaxing, ignoring the fact that one of the the wisest men of all has himself begun to lose sanity, possibly symbolic of the condition of people on the island. Of course, readers know, by the description of the bulging clouds, that the sky will soon break and, symbolically, something terrible within the plot will soon happen. Indeed, the entire novel has built to this point, as readers have observed the downward spiral of morality amidst the moral characters and increased savagery. Simon has observed this, and perhaps because he tends to take in everything inwardly, his depression over the gradual decline in the children on the island has caused him to become somewhat senile. Simon continues his “conversation” with the pig whom he calls “the lord of the flies” (“Beelzebub” in Hebrew, meaning “the devil”), and it is as if he is being tempted by the devil, or corrupt immorality that has taken over the other children on the island. However, he is able to be triumphant over the temptations, and staggers back down to the island to inform the other children that the beast on the island is
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Simon is empathetic; however, he struggles to communicate with the boys.
After his meeting with the Lord of the Flies, Simon travels to tell the boys and is murdered. From this point on Evil and Savagery are released and run rampant and the majority of the boys on the island. This just confirms the fact that Simon was right, the beast lives in all of
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.
On contrary from all the other boys on the island Simon, a Christ like figure in the novel, did not fear the ‘beastie’ or the unknown. “Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us” Simon explained. (p. 97) The fear of the unknown in the novel contributes to the boys’ terror of the beast, the beast is an imaginary figure which lays in all of the boys’ minds and haunts them. Golding uses the beast as a symbol of the evil that exists in every creature. "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are the way they are?" The sow head announced to Simon to be the “lord of the flies”. The “lord of the flies” is a figure of the devil, and brings out all the evil and fear in people. It wants you to fear it, but if you don’t believe in the “lord of the flies” nothing can happen to you. Therefore Simon didn’t fall into the trap, but the beast killed him, meaning the other boys on the island did. Simon discovered that the beast is in fact just a dead parachute man before he died and ran down to tell the boys about his finding. When Sim...
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.
All of the boys but Simon are becoming the beast at that moment. In Lord of the Flies, Golding proves that fear draws out man’s inner evil and barbarism. Within the novel, Golding uses characterization of the boys and symbolism of the beast to show the gradual change from their initial civility to savagery and inhumanity. Learned civility, order and humanity become ultimately futile in the face of fear. The author teaches that without logic, fear consumes us endlessly.
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.