Piggy And Simon Lord Of The Flies Comparison Essay

When detached from civilization, human nature instinctively shifts from domestic to savage behavior. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, savagery supplants civilization. The novel is set during World War Two on an uninhabited island, an ideal incubator for this return to primitive behavior. The story follows a group of boys who have arrived on the island because of a plane crash. Automatically, two boys, Ralph and Jack, emerge as leaders. Ralph is chosen as the chief of the group and assigns Jack as a hunter. Piggy is a boy on the island who automatically shows his superior knowledge and is the first to meet Ralph. Another boy, Simon, enters the novel as a very timid and sensitive character who does not say much at the beginning, but increases his speaking throughout the novel. Piggy has a very present intellectual

ability, while Simon has an exceptional intuition and conscience that the other boys do not possess.

Although Piggy and Simon are not the leaders on the island, they obtain certain traits that make them essential to the group’s survival and stable grasp on civilization. Intelligence and intuition are two traits within Piggy and Simon that must be present in contemplation of the boys being rescued and remaining civil. As the boys grow more primitive they lose the capability to value knowledge, in order for them to become completely savage Piggy and Simon must be the ones to die.

Both Piggy and Simon’s ideas and strengths contribute to all of the boys’ knowledge, assisting the group in examining their situation on the island with a clear-minded view. Many comments that Piggy and Simon assert, shows their intelligence compared to the rest of the boys. Golding describes Piggy as a chubby, intelligent boy with glasses and asthma. He is considered weaker because of his physical traits. Immediately Piggy reacts as an adult with a determined attitude on the island, “Like a crowd of kids-” (Golding p.30) Piggy

has high expectations for the boys, seeing that some of them are only six. Even one of his immediate questions as he arrives on the island is related to adults “Aren’t there any grown ups at all?” (Golding p.2) Piggy understands that there must be a leader within a society to enforce and create rules and laws. Simon is described in “Lord of the Flies” as a timid shy boy who deeply values his morals and respect for everyone. Unlike the other boys, Simon does not have the desire to be savage or democratic, he is somewhere in the middle of the two. He solely relies on his integrity to effect his behavior. Simon acts kindly towards the “littluns” which is something no other character seems to go out of their way to accomplish, “Simon found them the fruit that they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed the back down to the endless, outstretched hands” (Golding p. 46) Simon has a special form of knowledge that is very different from Piggy’s. Simon is one with nature and seems to care for it wherever he goes. Simon understands when something is wrong or uncivil. When Piggy’s glasses are broken by Jack, Simon goes to retrieve them and feels a sense of discomfort from the obviously wrong situation, “Passions beat about Simon on the mountain-top with awful wings.” (Golding p.60). Simon realizes how vulgar the rest of the boys are becoming and that all of their morals are spiraling downwards.

Although Piggy and Simon both offer intelligence, they are two divergent boys who have many similarities and differences. Simon sticks to his morals throughout the book and is the only character who does this. Simon’s intuition and separation from the other boys is the cause of his belief of the beast. He is the first of the boys to realize what the beast truly is, “What I mean is... maybe it’s (the beast) only us.” (Golding p.77) Piggy is more of the rational aspect of intellect present within human nature. His ideas are more straightforward and easily perceived, “We can use this (the conch) to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-”. (Golding p.10) This idea is more of an understandable or basic thought than Simon’s distinct, deep thoughts. Simon is deeply connected to the nature on the island, he spends more time deep within the the forest than he does with the rest of the boys, “He looked over his shoulder as Jack had done at the close ways behind him and glanced swiftly round to confirm that he was utterly alone” (Golding p.47). He is a symbol for spirituality inside of human nature. Simon’s death is very peaceful and it is almost as if his body is becoming one with nature, or he is having a burial, “Somewhere over the darkened curve of the world the sun and moon were pulling, and the film of water on the earth planet was held, bulging slightly on one side while the solid core turned” (Golding p. 137). Scientifically this is defining the ocean’s tide, Simon is being buried into the Ocean by the tide slowly and gracefully pulling him away. Piggy’s death on the other hand is very morbid and abrupt, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee… Then the sea breathed in again… and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone” (Golding p.163). Piggy’s weak appearance shows weakness to the boys, which promotes their disrespect and his sudden kill. Simon’s death was in a way by accident while Piggy’s death was no accident whatsoever.

Simon and Piggy’s intuition and intellect are two things that are obstacles in the way of humans nature’s compete grasp on the boys. In order for the boys to become completely savage they must eliminate all intelligence or relationships to civilization. This is the reason why both Piggy and Simon must be the ones to die in order for the “lord of the flies” or best within us all to come forth. Through their deaths it is shown how savagery can take over one's body to the point of murder. Simon and Piggy held answers that were needed in order for rescue. Simon even tried to help the boys truly understand the beast while they were murdering him, “Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill” (Golding p.136) The boys directly murder their source of information that could resolve all of their former problems with this beast. Just as Simon predicts, when the boys are all together they become a savage beast, “There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. This description is precisely how the beast was described earlier in the novel. In order to remain civil, Piggy is always one to enforce rules on the boys which stands in the way of the boys’ primitive human instincts, “I got the conch!” (Golding p. 72). The conch is the only thing protecting Piggy from being completely overpowered by Jack. Piggy and Simon are the ones to die because they are two of the leading characters who still have civilization and an idea of rescue still embedded inside their morals.

Piggy and Simon are two extremely significant characters who represent the boys’ connection to knowledge. As the boys become more and more savage they lose their embracement of civil morals. In order for these morals to be completely removed, Piggy and Simon must be the ones to die. William Golding illustrates the fact that every human being has a demon inside of them and that no matter how hard the boys try, that demon can overpower the glimmering good within their hearts. Even the term “Lord of the Flies” is a name for one of the devils located in hell. “Lord of the Flies” conveys that it is only human nature to become primitive when separated from civilization. Piggy and Simon’s deaths were the final events that created a society of complete savageness.