n William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, British schoolboys are stranded on an island after a plane crash in an attempt to escape the war, but they end up waging a war far worse than the one they were trying to avoid. One boy, Simon, is different from all the rest and has the ability to see beyond what the other boys can. He has the capacity to recognize the good and the bad in everything much before the other boys. In spite of the surrounding chaos and dysfunction, Simon is constantly calm and comforting to others. This sense of tranquility is demonstrated in Simon’s encounters with nature, and the forest in particular. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Simon epitomizes the natural, instinctive human goodness brought by connection to the world, and he is an example of nature's calming influence on the behavior of humans.
When Simon is in the forest, he has his deepest and most intimate thoughts, which lead him to examine the essence of the beast’s existence, suggesting that he feels most comfortable when surrounded
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by nature. Simon is quiet and reserved when he is around the other boys, but when he enters the forest, a whole new side of his character emerges. It is in the forest that Simon comes to the realization that the beast that has been haunting the boys is not a physical beast, but rather an innate inclination towards evil and savagery. When Simon encounters the “beast” up close for the first time, it says to him, “You know perfectly well that you’ll only meet me down there – so don’t try to escape!” (Golding 143). This realization is crucial to the work as a whole; it gradually becomes the overlying message of the novel – the beast lies in every person. Simon discovers this in his recognition of the human capacity for evil and the corruption of human morals. As savagery becomes evident, the force of this evil encompasses the island. Evil, physically represented by the pig’s head, has reached Simon in his most comfortable place, the forest hiding place, showing that surroundings can deeply affect how humans think and function. Tragic things happen to Simon as he leaves the sense of safety and security brought by nature.
Simon’s secret place in the jungle brings him comfort and peace. However, once he has the profound realization of the inescapable evil in every human, Simon becomes delirious and ventures into a clearing, where he finds the parachutist, and eventually the beach, where he is brutally murdered. This shows the escalation of the level of savagery of the boys on the island. It is no coincidence that Golding put Simon’s death in a place where he was vulnerable – out of the comfort he felt in the jungle. In the passage that describes Simon’s death, he is described as “a thing…crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly” (Golding 152). This shows that Simon is not his true self when he is separated from nature, and that he was uncomfortable and confused. Simon’s good, genuine character is shown best when he is directly connected to
nature. Simon is gentle and kind when he is in the forest, showing that he appreciates his surroundings and that nature brings peace and tranquility. On the island, there is a day when Simon is in the forest, surrounded by littluns, and he picks abundant amounts of fruit for them from the trees that they cannot reach. The littluns never asked for help, though their struggle was clear to Simon, who sees this and immediately assists them. This shows his good character and his appreciation for the blessing of nature. Later, “his feet left prints in the soft soil and the creepers shivered throughout their lengths when he bumped them” (Golding 56). Golding’s use of personification here hints that not only does nature affect Simon, but that he leaves an imprint of his own on his surroundings. Nature, it seems, appreciates Simon just as much as he appreciates nature. When Simon is no longer alive, nature mourns his absence; the breeze dies and all is silent. The last image of Simon is peaceful, and he is accompanied by only the efflorescent constellations, the creatures of the sea, and the soft pull of the tide. Simon’s good deeds in the forest display unity with and appreciation for nature. Simon embodies the inborn human virtue brought by contact with and appreciation for nature, and he exemplifies how nature deeply affects the way humans think, speak, and act. Simon’s words and actions demonstrate that he feels most comfortable when he is surrounded by nature. Tragedy strikes when he leaves the blanket of safety and calmness provided by the forest. Throughout the novel, Simon is gentle and kind in the forest, exhibiting his appreciation for nature and the peace and tranquility that it brings. Humans have a special relationship with nature from birth, and this connection to the world is the purest form of human goodness. This influence brought by nature allows humans to truly be at peace, and to share this tranquility in any way possible. After all, humans are a part of nature, and respect for surroundings is essential in maintaining this unique relationship.
In the novel Golding writes, “Simon looks around to make sure that he is alone, then he sits down to take in the scene, marveling at the abundance and beauty of life that surrounds him” ( ). In this quote, it is telling us that Simon is try to find the good in being alone on the island. This quote doesn’t say it, but Ralph was there with him. Being all alone on an island affected everybody except for Ralph and Simon.
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.
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).
The passage from chapter 9 from the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding has a theme of the journey of death which is portrayed through imagery and the use of vivid diction. The passage shows the events occurring after Simon dies and how the effect and portray the tone. The tone of serenity is portrayed in the passage showing that how after Simon’s death the mood and tone pulls in a state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled in the air. Simon's death is one of the greatest misfortunes in William Golding's “Lord of the Flies”, both because of who he is and how he dies. Simon is the character who is most sensitive and represents the best part of human nature. He is the only boy who recognizes the true beast on the island which is them. When he frees the parachutist, the beast from the air, he is displaying a consideration which he is not given. In these final paragraphs, it seems that Golding is mourning the loss of civilized behavior.
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.
Throughout the novel several different characters are introduced to the reader, such as Ralph, Jack, Simon and Piggy. With all these characters presented to the reader, one can get to see into their minds-eye, which allows the reader to analyze their character. In this case one could examine their basic morals and distinguish between the person’s natural instinct to rely on civilization or savagery to solve their problems. The author of the novel, William Golding, had a “first-hand experience of battle line action during World War II” which caused him to realize, “[that] The war alone was not what appalled him, but what he had learnt of the natural - and original- sinfulness of mankind did. It was the evil seen daily as commonplace and repeated by events it was possible to read in any newspaper which, he asserted, were the matter of Lord of the Flies” (Foster, 7-10). This being said by Golding leads one to the central problem in the novel the Lord of the Flies, which can be regarded as the distinction between civility and savagery. This can be seen through the characters that are presented in the novel, and how these boys go from a disciplined lifestyle, to now having to adapt to an unstructured and barbaric one in the jungle.
So far there are several rumors of the beast and this one is the most farfetched by a long shot. Simon is the first character in the novel to recognize that the beast is not a tangible being, instead, it is an idea of sorts, and in turn, this quote by Simon actually is actually foreshadowing one of the major themes of the novel, the fact that there is evil resting in all of us. Simon represents all that is good in man whereas the Beast represents all that is bad in man.
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...
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
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.
In Lord of the Flies, Golding extensively uses of analogy and symbolism like the dead parachutist in Beast from Air to convey the theme of intrinsic human evil through the decay of the character’s innocence and the island itself. In this essay, I will view and explain Golding’s use of specific symbolism to explain the novel’s main themes.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
Some include “self-sacrificing,” “known to have spent time alone in the wilderness,” “believed to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted,” and “very forgiving.” Simon was always helping others, giving of himself, and kind to all. On a superficial level Golding’s characterization of Simon set up reader’s expectations for his role almost immediately. Golding also furthers the archetype through plot. For Jesus, the time spent alone in the wilderness coincided with his confrontation with the devil. Likewise, Simon was alone in the jungle when he faced the temptation and taunts of the “beastie.” They both came out of this experience enlightened and ready to share their new understanding with others. Again, in both cases, the people were simply not ready and instead destroyed what they did not