simon's death lord of the flies essay

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William Golding’s Lord of the Flies: Simon’s Death

• William Golding’s Lord of the…

In Chapter Nine of Lord of the Flies, the atmosphere on the island is very tense, and the ambiance is mirrored by the weather in Golding’s use of a thunderstorm. As the tension rises and the storm gets worse, the boys start to recite the sinister ‘dance’ they perform when they are killing pigs for meat. Meanwhile, Simon has just discovered an explanation behind the ‘beast’ Samneric saw – it is a fallen parachutist who has died and landed on the island.

He intends to tell this to the other boys, but when he reaches them they are so deeply engrossed in their dance that they claim he is the beast, and Simon is brutally murdered. Simon was a Jesus-like character who represented the benevolence in humanity, so his death signifies the death of goodness on the island.

Simon’s death is a key event in revealing the extent to which the boys in Lord of the Flies have succumbed to evilness. This is made evident by the way Golding crafts them to be reminiscent of the ‘beast’ they all fear, suggesting that the evil they are so fearful of is not a physical being but is inside of them. Golding presents the boys as a single entity of evil by using the quotation ‘throb and stamp of a single organism’ when describing them.

The word choices ‘throb’ and ‘stamp’ have violent connotations, presenting the ‘single organism’ as beast-like which directly links to the ‘beast’ they imagine they are killing. The idea of the boys becoming the beast is continued in the quotation ‘there were no words, no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws’.

The phrase ‘no words’ has animalistic qualities, implying they have become savage, and this phrase highlights how their savagery has reversed their humanity until they are at the same level as animals. Furthermore, the imagery ‘tearing of teeth and claws’ is reminiscent of a beast.

We get the impression the boys are going against nature by murdering Simon as he is a character that appreciated the natural beauty of the island, and many beautiful descriptions of nature are positioned in parts of the novel where Simon is present. This idea is developed by the use of a thunderstorm, which are often associated with destruction and danger. Historically, people used to believe thunderstorms were a sign that God was angry, so Golding’s use of thunder is significant as it portrays Simon as a divine figure with close ties to religion and God, suggesting his murder was not only against nature but against God as well.

This links in with the idea that Simon is a Christ-like character, as throughout the novel he is the one boy who stands out as not partaking in violence and who is kind to everyone regardless of their social status. His benevolent attitude is made clear when he is described as helping get fruit for the ‘littluns’ in the phrase ‘Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands’.

The ‘littluns’ are presented as at the bottom of society and are dismissed by the ‘bigguns’, so it is significant that Simon is willing to help them despite their low social standing. Furthermore, the phrase ‘endless, outstretched hands’ mirrors biblical scenes in which people tried to touch Jesus, further indicating that Simon is Christ-like.

Golding suggests the boys have blemished the island, and this is made evident by the use of the word ‘scar’ to describe the lightning. ‘Scar’ mirrors the language used at the start of the novel, reminding the readers of the plane crash which was referred to as ‘the scar’. 

This word choice indicates the boys have wounded the island in a sense, and on a larger scale implies that humanity is a threat to peace and nature. ‘Scar’ evokes connotations of permanence, suggesting the shame of Simon’s murder will haunt the island – and perhaps the boys – forever.

The idea that the boys have gone against nature by killing Simon is emphasized by the huge contrast between their violence and disrespect towards him as opposed to nature’s gentleness after his death. The quotation ‘the water rose further and dressed Simon’s coarse hair in brightness’ highlights nature’s respect as it is symbolic of a crown being placed on his head, presenting him as a king who deserves maximum respect.

Similarly, the ‘brightness’ could refer to a halo, linking in with the idea that Simon is an angelic, Christ-like figure. We get the impression nature is returning the affection he showed it in word choices such as ‘bright’ and ‘dimple’, both of which evoke connotations of a smile.

Overall, Simon’s death displays the extent to which the boys have descended into savagery, and their disrespect to him in contrast with nature’s respect confirms the suggestion that their actions went against nature. The whole scene is somewhat reminiscent of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross, suggesting Simon gave his life to help the boys even though he saw evil in them – it is true that his last actions were him trying to reassure them that the beast was not real and there was no need to be afraid.

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• William Golding's Lord of the Flies: Conch Symbolism
• William Golding’s Lord of the Flies: Simon Analysis

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• Lord of the Flies

William Golding

• Literature Notes
• Lord of the Flies at a Glance
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Character Analysis Simon

Simon's role as an artistic, religious visionary is established not only by his hidden place of meditation but also by the description of his eyes: "so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked." While Piggy has the glasses — one symbol of vision and truth — Simon has bright eyes, a symbol of another kind of vision and truth.

Simon is different from the other boys not only due to his physical frailty, manifested in his fainting spells, but also in his consistently expressed concern for the more vulnerable boys. Littluns follow him, and he picks choice fruit for them from spots they can't reach, a saintly or Christ-like image. He stands up for Piggy and helps him get his glasses back when Jack knocks them off his head, another allusion to Simon's visionary bent. In addition, he has a secret place in the jungle, where he spends time alone.

Simon's loner tendencies make the other boys think he's odd, but, for the reader, Simon's credibility as a mystic is established when he prophesies to Ralph "You'll get back to where you came from." Simon reaches an abstract understanding of mankind's latent evil nature and unthinking urge to dominate as "mankind's essential illness." When Simon tries to visualize what the beast might look like, "there arose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick" — Golding 's vision of humanity as flawed by inherent depravity. Golding gives this knowledge to an outsider like Simon to reflect the place visionaries or mystics typically hold in society: on the fringes, little understood by the majority, and often feared or disregarded. Like other mystics, Simon asks questions the other boys cannot answer. His questions to them, "What's the dirtiest thing there is?" and "What else is there to do?" require both abstract thought and courageous action to answer.

In contrast to Piggy and Ralph's equating adulthood with knowledge and higher understanding, Simon sees the darker side of knowledge. For him, the staked sow's eyes are "dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life," a view of adults not defined by the civilized politeness and capability the boys imagine. Yet Simon soldiers on in his quest to discover the identity of the beast on the mountaintop because he sees the need for the boys to face their fears, to understand the true identity of the false beast on the mountain, and to get on with the business of facing the beast within themselves.

By courageously seeking to confront the figure on the mountaintop, Simon fulfills his destiny of revelation. He doesn't get to share his revelation with the other boys because they are not ready to accept or understand it. Instead he dies as a result of being made the scapegoat for the boys' unshakeable fear. When Simon's body is carried off by the tide, covered in the jellyfish-like phosphorescent creatures who have come in with the tide, Golding shifts the focus from Simon's body's movements to the much larger progressions of the sun, moon, and earth because Simon represented a knowledge as fundamental as the elements.

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'Lord of the Flies': Simon Essay.

                Simon Essay

‘Lord of the Flies’: Simon Essay

In this essay I will examine the character of Simon and his role in Lord of the Flies. Lord of the flies is the story of a group of public school boy that have been stranded on a desert island. This takes place in the backdrop of the cold war. The island is a microcosm within the macrocosm of the world beyond. At first it appears to mirror the outer world in some respect, but then the boys turn into savages. As the island represented the larger world, and as the island gets destroyed at the end of the story, it could be viewed that the book is suggesting possible world destruction. Simon’s first appearance in Lord of the Flies is him fainting, probably from the heat. Because of this Simon appears to be a week character, who is not robust. For example “ he smiled palidly” he is almost dazed after he faints.

In the first chapter Simon is largely over looked and described as a weak boy; “He was a small, skinny boy, his chin pointed, and his eyes so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked.”, this description as well as him fainting in his introduction makes him appear weak. Another thing that makes Simon look physically weak, at first impression is what Jack says when Simon faints; “ He’s always throwing a faint”, this gives the impression that as well as physically weak, he is mentally weak, ‘ throwing ’ gives the impression that Simon is doing it deliberately, possibly due to a poorly motivated personality. However this is later on proved to be the complete opposite from the truth. The description also points at a possible mischievous side of Simon, however this turns out to be pointing to his spiritual side.

In the first few chapters Simon is largely overlooked and made to appear as if he is just a minor character. Jack treats Simon with disrespect and not much compassion in the early chapters, he just views him as one of his coir boys, and then as a hunter. He is eager to enforce the fact that they are under his control and not Ralph’s, he does this because of his unquenchable thirst for power. During the democratic elections, where Ralph is voted as leader, he views that it is his place to be leader regardless of what the other boys think. He represents dictatorship at this stage of the novel, whilst Ralph and the conch represent western democratic ideas.

This is a preview of the whole essay

After the election, Ralph decides to go on an expedition to explore the island, and find out if it is really an island. He chooses Jack to accompany him, Ralph probably wants to find out about Jack, and if he is a threat to his leadership. Ralph also chooses Simon to go on the expedition, he chooses Simon for a number of reasons; he wants to access how much of a threat Jack is to his leadership, so by choosing Simon he can find out what sort of leader Jack is and how he treats Simon. He may also choose Simon, as at this point in the story is a rather impartial character, who, will let Ralph and Jack go on the expedition without interference. He also chose Simon, despite seeing him faint not long before, maybe he choose Simon to give himself a better chance of looking successful. Maybe he chose Jack and Simon, because he wanted to gauge Jacks physical strength against his own, using Simon as a benchmark as he had already seen his physical weakness. If this is true then he did not choose Piggy who desperately wanted to go, because he cared for him, despite treating him to the contrary.“ A kind of glamour was spread over them and the scene, and they were conscious of the glamour, and made happy by it.” This shows that they were seen as explorers, and just by going, the other children’s opinions of them had changed, maybe it was a mistake choosing Jack to go with him.

During the expedition Simons spiritual side is first explored, when the three boys see a plant that has bud that resemble candles simon is fascinated, “Like candles, candle bushes, candle buds!” This shows Simons appreciation of natural beauty, and the candles resemble his background in the choir, which he has respect, and curiousness for. Jack on the other hand shows contempt, and is violent towards the plant, “the enormity of the downwards stroke’, it shows that he resents his Choir backgrounds, and exploits it for power as the head choir boy. Ralph shows little imagination, dismissing the candle buds; this shows his lack of imagination. Later in the chapter, the boys see a pig, and Jack is not able to kill, it due to his macrocosm values, he is still humane and has not yet descended into savagery, although he wants to, as it would make him look powerful. Although Simon is in this scene, he is not involved with the pig incident, keeping his innocent record.

        Simon does not view the beast like the other boys on the island; he uses his spiritual side, to explore the possibilities. Not assuming it exists, and must, be killed or that it definitely cannot exist like Ralph or Piggy, he takes the view that maybe it does exist, but the beast is in them. In chapter three; Simon’s behaviour is seen by the other boys as increasingly odd, as he goes into the woods, on his own at nights and doesn’t mind being by himself. The beast does not scare him. This is because of his strong personality, and spiritual side. Simon has a deep understanding concerning the beast but is not able to put his ideas and emotions into words, so Golding provides them.

        The first real act of evil on the island occurs when Simon is sitting alone in the forest and he witnesses the killing of the sow. Simon realizes that this is the first real act of evil on the island, especially when the head gets placed on stick, as a “gift” for the beast, therefore idolizing it!

Simon is the only boy on the island who discovers what the Beast truly is. In an epileptic fit he dreams he is talking to the head, whom he calls ‘The Lord of The Flies’ in this conversation the pigs head tries to tempt Simon into joining Ralph and Jack in their feast of the sow, “they think your batty” the beast tries to persuade Simon by criticising him. When Simon awakes he decides he has to confront the beast, this will help him conquer his fears. By now the others are almost worshiping the beast. As Simon approaches the “beast” he discovers it is a parachutists rotting body, being moved by the parachute swaying in the wind . At first he feels sympathy for the parachutist and frees him from the parachute. When he tries to tell the rest of the children he is mistaken as the Beast and beaten to death. This is one of the reasons that Simon is often seen as a Christ figure in the novel.

        Golding portrays the death of Simon as a beautiful thing, surrounded by  “strange moon beam bodied creatures with fiery eyes” These small creatures resemble tiny angles carrying Simon away, signifying Simons religious importance to the novel. As Simon drifts out to sea, Golding changes the scene from the island to the whole world, the sun and the moon, circling forever. This signifies two things; firstly that Simons death has a universal importance in a macrocosm much wider than the island. I think he is also trying to show that the world is in many ways like the island, a microcosm in a much larger macrocosm, and whatever destruction and suffering is caused, it is insignificant compared to what is happening in the larger Macrocosm.

        After Simons death, the island quickly descends into savagery, this is why Simon is seen to represent goodness and fairness, with his death come the death of democracy and all ‘humanitarian’ ideas and principles.  When Simon leaves the island there is no one left to challenge evil. By this time Roger is symbolizing the increasing evil on the island. Jack and his tribe decide that they have killed the beast with Simons death, although Jack still seems to want is, as if he is dependant on the beast. I feel this is because his power is based around fear, and the beast provides that fear. This brings Ralph and Piggy into conflict with the ‘tribe’ resulting in Piggy’s violent death and tribe hunting Ralph.

        At the end of the novel, the boys set the island on fire, destroying everything, and at the last moment an Army officer lands on the island, this is a ‘dues ex machiener’, which was used in old plays; when the world was in chaos and every one is about to die, an almighty thing (often a god) comes and fixes everything.  Goldings point is with this is that this wouldn’t happen in real life, and that we have or own fate in our hands

In conclusion I can say that Simon is a very important character in Lord of the flies because the novel is an allegory, each character signifies an important idea. I think Simon represents natural human goodness (which is killed off with Simons death, and the completion of the boys turning into savages), Ralph represents order, leadership, and civilization, democracy (which is ended with the smashing of the conch, and Ralph’s downfall as leader); Piggy represents the scientific and intellectual aspects of civilization; Jack represents savagery and the desire for power; and Roger represents brutality and bloodlust and the desire for evil. Unlike the other kids on the island Simon acts morally not out of guilt or shame, but because he believes in its inherent value. He behaves kindly toward the younger children, and he is the first to realize the problem posed by the beast and the Lord of the Flies and, that the monster on the island is not some physical beast, but rather a savagery that lurks within each person. This idea finds representation in the sow's head and eventually stands as the moral conclusion of the novel. The main problem of the book is the idea of inherent human evil, and mans essential illness. Against this, Simon seems to represent an idea of essential human goodness. Yet his brutal murder by the other boys indicates the scarcity of that goodness amid an overwhelming abundance of evil.

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• Word Count 1786
• Page Count 4
• Subject English

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Lord of The Flies Death Analysis

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

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Simon’s Death in “Lord of the Flies”

• Word count: 882
• Category: Character Death Lord of the Flies

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Golding uses the death of Simon to portray a death of goodness on the island and in the boys. This essay will explore how, with the use of language and imagery, how Golding shows this in chapter 9 of “Lord of the Flies”.

Golding uses the weather and the technique of pathetic fallacy throughout the chapter to show the build up of tension on the island and then a release of all the built up tension. At the beginning of the chapter, Golding describes the clouds gathering, “Over the island the build-up of clouds continued” the clouds represent the boys’ savagery starting to grow. Then later in the chapter, “Piggy inspected the looming sky”, the evil continues to build up, and then, it all breaks, after a gathering of evil, the evil breaks loose, “Between the flashes of lightening, the air was dark and terrible”. In this terrible frenzy, the sin of murder is committed. The extremity of the weather reflects the extremity of the boys’ actions and their savagery. After Simon has been killed the weather is described as lighter, “Towards midnight, the rain ceased and the clouds drifted away” the intensity of before has finished and swept away the evil, although perhaps only temporarily…

Golding uses horrific language to show the savagery of the boys in this frenzy, “Screamed, struck, bit, tore” these strong verbs give us a sense of the evil being done. It also shows that the savagery of the boys has been building up since they arrived at the island; it is not a recent thing and because of how, when the pressure is released, almost like a volcano they lose complete control and the anger erupts, “the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed”. Again, powerful verbs are used to convey the terror and violence and the terrible release of pressure against an innocent being.

The image of the scar that Golding creates in “Lord of the Flies” symbolises the damage they are doing not only to the island but to themselves, “The dark sky was shattered by a white-blue scar”. A scar is a permanent impact that will never go away, “The blue-white scar was constant” once the boys have murdered; they will not be able to undo their actions but must continue how they have started, in a terrible way. The scar shows that they have crossed a significant line towards complete savagery. By killing a human being they have taken away any trace of laws, meaning that they are no longer confined to the real world and are free to kill and murder again without any effect on the conscience – because they have no longer a sense of right or wrong.

In trying to kill the beast all they have achieved is to kill the only enemy of the beast, in doing so strengthening their beast, “Another desire arose, thick, urgent, blind”. This means that by strengthening the beast the savage part of them is able to take control, making them bloodthirsty to kill again.

Simon is described by Golding using God-like terms, “Passions beat about Simon on the mountain-top with awful wings”. He has an un-earthly quality that the other boys do not posses. Golding shows the death of goodness on the island by the image that he creates Simon to be in, “the beast was on it’s knees in the centre, its arms folded over its face”, Simon cannot defend himself against the brutality of the boys and so folds his arms over his face so as to protect his face and his eyes, meaning he cannot see the evil as he cannot understand evil or the other boys motives.

The death of hope is also shown by the weakness of Simon, “He walked with a glum determination like an old man”, Simon is the biggest enemy of the beast and he is unable to defend himself, he is hopeless against the strength of the boys and the beast. The limits of Simon, and therefore goodness, are shown by Simon’s inability to find words and communicate his ideas, “It was crying against the abominable noise something about a body on a hill”, the boys do not understand Simon as he is unable to convey his ideas. This flaw is his ultimate weakness and results in the boys, instead of realising that the beast was nothing but a parachute man, end up killing the opposite of the beast, Simon.

Later in the novel, Golding uses the stain on the island to symbolise how when the boys kill, they damage the island and themselves, “and already it’s blood was staining the sand”, the stain is also on the boys and has a lasting effect. It also symbolises that they are damaging the island as they are damaging themselves by strengthening the beast. The stain also shows what little is left of pure goodness; Simon was the largest hope of goodness and now he is no more than a stain of blood on the sand. This shows how little hope is left for goodness to triumph against evil.

Therefore Golding’s use of powerful language and imagery conveys the tragic death of hope and goodness through the death of Simon, a figure of pure goodness.

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