Lord of the Flies- Chapter 9

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Reread the description of Simon’s death and burial in Chapter 9, from “Do our dance! Come on! Dance!” until the end. What is the importance of this episode in the novel? In “Lord of the Flies”, William Golding creates a microcosm of the world, in which characters symbolise human nature, and it’s characteristics. In chapter 9, Golding uses different methods to show the importance of human behaviour in society. Chapter 9, “A view to a death” is extremely important within the novel as it, through a microcosm of the world, represents human beings’ capacity for evil and corruption in society. In this chapter the boys kill the first human being and descent further into savagery. It possibly takes away the last bit of civilization and order on the island, and brutality and chaos take over: “The chant rose in a tone in agony. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’” this shows the lack civilization or emotion. Simon’s death symbolises the death of all he represents: hope, He foresees the future, the division and opposing leaders: “Simon looked now, from Ralph to Jack, as he had looked from Ralph to the horizon, and what he saw made him afraid.” He realises that the beast is them and that the fear for the beast is unconquerable unless the other boys realise it. But when he dies, it established a sense of hopelessness on the island. Simon, also, is William Golding’s mouthpiece: through Simon’s death Golding emphasises ‘mankind’s essential illness’”. The other boys, ironically, believe that Simon is the beast: “A thing was crawling out of the forest” (…) “the beast stumbled into the horse shoe.” His goodness is not tolerated, it’s destroyed. This suggests that truth and goodness fail to survive in the world. It creates a very negative and pessimistic view of life on the island and the world at large. Simon’s death makes it all the more unlikely that the other
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