Simon Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis Essay

Character Analysis in Lord of the Flies: Simon
    Dealing with your inner demons is not an easy thing to do. Most of the time you do not even realize when they are there. In the Lord of the Flies, however, Simon is the first to recognize what the boys are turning into due to their fear of the beast and tries to help them see who the real beast is. His efforts in doing so throughout the story, however, causes the other boys to see him as “batty” and he ends up walking into his own demise and is never able to reveal the truth to the other boys. In the Lord of the Flies, Simon displays traits of insight, courage, and wisdom to try to help the boys understand their inner demons and discover the true beast that was them all along.
    Simon was aware of how all the boy’s attitudes had shifted after talk of the beast. The fear on

the island from talk of the beast was changing the boys and Simon’s insight allowed him to determine who the true beasts on the island were. “What I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” (Golding 89). Simon had known that the fear on the island was beginning to change some of the boys and his prophetic insight allowed him to understand that there was no beast on the island with the boys, it was the island that was turning the boys into beasts. When Simon tried to explain to the others what was the island was turning them into, however, he was unable to reach them and explain their “essential illness.” “We could be sort of…” Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness” (Golding 89). He understood what was happening to them, but his inability to express the situation caused the other boys to not listen to him. It is similar to Piggy’s situation as he is often ignored for not being understood by the others and is disrespected by the hunters when, ironically, they are the most beast-like on the island. Though he was unable to express himself and his opinions on the beast, his insight truly shined as he was able to understand what the boys were becoming due to their fears and the essential illness that resides in their civilization.
    Another trait that allows Simon to discover the truth of the beast is his courage.

We first witness his courage when he volunteers to go across the forest in the dark to go tell Piggy that the biguns out hunting for the beast will be late. “I’ll go if you like. I don’t mind, honestly.” (Golding 117). The other boys were scared to go alone in the dark due to their fears of the beast, but Simon volunteers for the job himself showing his courage and disbelief in the beast. His courage does not end there, however, as he goes back up the mountain to look for the beast. When he had reached the top of the mountain, all he found was the body of the dead parachutist and understood what he needed to do then, “The beast is harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.” (Golding 147). Simon’s courage allows him to discover the truth behind the beast. However, when he attempts to to spread the news of the parachutist he is brutally killed by the other boys who mistook him for the beast. Though his plan to tell the others had failed, without his courage, he would not have been able to find out the truth about the

beast.
    His wisdom is another factor in his understanding of the beast. In a hallucinatory state, Simon has a talk with the Lord of the Flies when he is really just talking to himself. In this state, he realizes to himself that the beast is not as palpable as the others believe. “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could kill! You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you?” (Golding 143). In his moment of haziness, he finally understands how the beast is not only impalpable, but it was actually them all along. He knew that their fears of the beast was actually turning them into the beasts.
    In conclusion, Simon shows many trait throughout the Lord of the Flies that allow him to discover the truth behind the beast and try to help the others around him understand the savages they are turning into. With his insight, he was able to determine who the true beast was before everyone else. His courage allowed him climb up the mountain alone at night to discover the    dead parachutist that everyone had thought was the beast. Without his courage, the truth of the beast would never have come out and the boys would have still feared the beast on the mountain till the very end. His wisdom allowed him to understand how the beast was only the boys and their fears all along. Simon carried an important role in the Lord of the Flies as he was the first to understand what was happening to all of them and the first to discover the truth of the beast. Though he was killed before he was able to spread the news, he played a major part in the conflict between Jack and Ralph and helped us see a new side of the boys and their reactions to his death.