Simon Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill…You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close. Close. Close,” in comparison to “And he said, ‘That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man’…All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Golding 143, Mark 7:20- 7:23, KJV). Both statements about inner evils, both spoken by one in the same person. The former was stated by Simon in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies as he spoke to the Lord of the Flies, and the latter is transcribed in the scripture of the Holy Bible, a book devoted to the life and stories of Jesus. These coinciding excerpts are not by coincidence in any way. Simon is the symbolic Christ figure in Lord of the Flies in more ways in one. Often

Instancing the children’s troubles with the “beastie”, a conjugation of the boys’ nightmares, Simon can be seen to suffer. When it is first motioned at an assembly by Percival, the “beastie” is said to come from the water (Golding 88). A similar setting is spoken of in the Book of Revelation, “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea” (Revelation 13:1, KJV). Simon tries at first, not to dispel the notion of a beast, but to clarify, “Maybe it’s just us” (Golding 89). He is seen by the other boys as insane, “nuts” even, especially by Piggy, who personifies the immortal conflict between Creation and science (Golding 89). This type of conflict and rejection is seen done unto Jesus as well, though, when he heals the blind man in John and is not believed to have done so by the Pharisees. “Some of the Pharisees said ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (Sabbath is the Christian day of worship, typically Sunday) (John 9:16, KJV). This makes the Pharisees blind, and the boys as well, to the path that religion has set before them, to cordon them off from the evil that is inside them, savagery. Simons plights do not end here, however, but carry on throughout the

He holds his ground upon the thought that the boys, or at least Ralph will survive the ordeal. “You’re batty” says Ralph, Simon retorts, “No, I’m not. I just think you’ll get back alright,” (Golding 111). Even plagued with controversy, Simon stays static, much like Jesus, who holds the precedence of love above all. Peter, a disciple of Christ, speaks such things “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed,” something so similar to Simon’s resolve throughout Lord of the Flies (1 Peter 4:12, KJV). Another similarity can also be inferred from the prior excerpt from Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Never does Simon reference him escaping the island, him escaping the world plagued in sin, only the others, the just ones. Simon’s ultimate fate is to leave the world to rise it, as Jesus did for the sins of the