Simon In Lord Of The Flies As A Christ Figure

In literature, a Christ-figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels to Christ. In the Lord of the Flies, Simon is presented as the Christ-figure. Although Simon shares characteristics with the Biblical Christ, he actually fails as a Christ-figure. Simon’s failure is evident in his violent but ineffective “crucifixion” and his mundane “resurrection.”

Simon is the allusion to Simon Peter from the Bible, who was one of the twelve apostles. According to the New Testament, Simon Peter was one of the first followers of Christ. It is believed the Peter Simon traveled to Rome and was martyred there by crucifixion. He requested to be crucified upside down because he said he was not worthy to die in the same way as Christ. Similarly Simon in the Lord of the Flies, is depicted as kind, compassionate, and peaceful. He behaves kindly to the littluns by giving them fruit from the trees and he is the first to realize the problem posed by the breast. Instead of being a martyr, his crucifixion made things worse.

Immediately in chapter 9, the allusion of imagery to the weather foreshadows a death, just like it foreshadows a death in the Bible of Christ.

After Simon woke up, he goes up the mountain, just like Christ did when he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, to find the truth about the beast, which he finds out is a dead parachute man. Excited to tell the boys that he freed them from the beast, Simon staggers down the mountain, just like Christ did on his way to his crucifixion. Golding writes, “ Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill,” which show that his message of salvation goes unheeded. Mistaken for the beast, the boys murder him, which brings more emphasize that the boys are the beast. While Christ died a martyr, Simon died in vein. He does not save anyone and no one changes because of him. Simon’s death will be forgotten, while no one will forget Christ’s

death.
Furthermore, Simon’s failure as a Christ-figure is evident in his mundane “resurrection.” Unlike Christ, Simon does not get resurrected, which shows how he has failed as a Christ-figure. After Simon’s death, the clouds clear up so the sky is covered with stars and the water reflects the beautiful night sky, Golding writes, “ now it touched the first of the stains that seeped from the broken body and the creatures made a moving patch of light as they gathered at the edge. The water rose farther and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. The line of hs cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble.” At first, the creatures resemble angels that give Simon’s body an angelic glow. When the water moves, they give his head an allusion of a hola. Just like the greek Gods, Golding describes Simon as becoming “marble,” suggesting he is becoming resurrected. However, the creatures are not angels, they are jellyfish that are lifting his body out to sea to eat. Since Simon did not get resurrected, Golding is arguing that Christianity does not save anything. Simon was the only religious character and now all hope for salvation is gone.
Certainly, Simon’s failure as a Christ-figure is evident in both his inefficient crucifixion and mundane resurrection. Although Christ and Simon die sacrificial deaths, Christ was killed for his beliefs and Simon was killed because of the boys delusions. Christ’s death alleviated the burden of mankind whereas Simon’s death intensifies the burden of sin on the island. Simon does not get resurrected which show how he failed as a Christ-figure.