What_Do_You_Think_Is_Simon’S_Importance_to_the_Novel_and_How_Does_Golding_Present_Him_

In the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding, Simon plays a very important part. He is shown to be the Christ-like figure among the boys as he performs acts in the novel that relate to acts from the bible. Golding took Simon’s name from the New Testament, referring to Peter, to whom Christ said “Upon this rock I will build my church.” Lead disciple of Christ in the Bible, Simon in the novel is a shy visionary individual unrivalled even by Piggy, who is often described as ‘clear-sighted.’ He is even presented as helpful and community-spirited when helping Ralph with the shelters yet, on other occasions, he is reclusive and solitary. Simon shows great courage and bravery when walking in the jungle alone at night and climbing the mountain to face the beast. However, Simon is perceptive but frequently inarticulate. In Chapter 1, he is described as a ‘skinny, vivid little boy’ physically weak and tormented by the older children. On numerous occasions, he is described as ‘batty’, ‘queer’ and ‘crackers’. The boys fail to define Simon’s unique personality and he is regarded as odd due to his disparateness from the other boys. However, there is more to Simon than is perceived in the first chapter. At the end of the first chapter, the three boys, Jack, Ralph, and Simon climb the mountain where they reach an area of bushes described as ‘dark evergreen and aromatic’. Simon spoke first, calling them ‘candle buds’. Candles are an image of hope and optimism, and the fact that it is repeated emphasises its importance. Simon is presented as shy and inarticulate throughout the novel making it all the more important when he says anything at all. The link Simon has made to candles shows that he is often very profound and insightful. Simon is also very considerate and selfless; he is the only boy who stays to help Ralph build the shelters when the other boys play. This demonstrates his helpfulness, discipline, and dedication towards the common good. Simon shows his consideration towards the ‘littluns’ in the third chapter when he ‘found for them the fruit they could not reach’ indicating his kindness and sympathy. Simon’s caring nature is shown here in a more colourful and meaningful way. This contrasts to the older boys as they show no consideration towards the ‘littluns’ and amuse themselves by tormenting them. All the other boys seem to have inherited their goodness and morality from the external forces of civilisation which have seemed to erode slowly over time. The descriptions of the passage – ‘everywhere was the scent of ripeness’, ‘bars of honey-coloured sunlight’ – associate Simon with images of growth and light. The image of Simon feeding the ‘littluns’ is reminiscent of the Biblical story, ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’. Simon gave the food to the ‘endless, outstretched hands’ as he ‘satisfied them’. Golding presents Simon as a Christ-like figure here contrasting to the devil-nature of Jack and Roger. Golding may have put Simon in this important position to show that, though he is physically weak, he is spiritual and divine. In chapter 8, Simon sees the pig’s head on the stick resulting in him going into a cataleptic seizure. During which he speaks to the ‘Lord of the Flies’ who introduces itself as the ‘Beast’ that has consumed and terrified the boys over the course of the novel. The beast shows a dislike towards Simon as he informs Simon of ‘man’s essential illness’. Simon comes to understand the true nature of man as portrayed by Golding and he is continually told by the pig’s head to give up showing a similarity to Christ in the Bible. However, unlike Jesus, Simon does not preach ending the comparison with Jesus. Instead, he ‘became inarticulate in his effort to express man’s essential illness’. Golding here manages to highlight his main point that evil can express itself in many ways and it’s only rules and society that are suppressing it. Therefore, Simon is seen as Golding’s chief way of portraying the evil of mankind from the voice of an innocent, insightful young boy. In conclusion, Simon is one of the few boys who doesn’t lose clear-sightedness. He is the only character whose sense of morality does not seem to have been imposed by society. Simon represents a kind of natural goodness, as opposed to the unbridled evil of Jack and the imposed morality of civilisation represented by Ralph and Piggy. Without rules and society on the island, goodness and morality diminish. Though Simon was not the most important character in the superficial plot of the novel, his symbolic purpose outwits all the others as the battle between good and evil. This is only enhanced when he recognises that the real beast is in everyone, and that this truth must be accepted before the boys are ruled by it or overcome it. However, like martyrs who die for others, Simon is killed as he tries to tell the boys the truth about their situation.