What Role Does Simon Play in Lord of the Flies

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What role does Simon play in Lord of the Flies, discuss Word count: 1028 excluding the title Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys trying to establish civilisation on an island, but with disastrous result which involves two deaths. It is written by William Golding and has caused much controversy over its theories of human nature. It is generally accepted that Ralph and Jack, two prominent leaders in the story, represent civilisation and savagery. However Simon, the second boy to die in the story, puzzles not only the characters in the book, but also the general readers. So what role does Simon play in this book? It is believed that he represents morality, peace, and the general goodness of humanity. He is the only boy to appreciate their surrounding environment and understands the true nature of the Beast; therefore he is the closest link, out of all the boys, to the natural and spiritual world. Lastly, the similarity between him and Jesus Christ is striking so he is often recognised as the Christ figure in the book. It is noted that none of the “bigguns”, except for Simon, act kindly towards the littluns. As the book progresses they bully the littluns more and more. However Simon is different, he always behaves out of his moral values. There are many incidents which reflect this idea such as picking fruits for the littluns, helping with the construction of the shelters and giving Piggy his share of pork etc. Because of his consistency he becomes the measure of morality on the island; his death reflects the diminishing morality and sense on the island. But how does his death reflect this idea? It’s because only primitive humans paint their faces, worship non-existing idols and kill each other, which happens at the time of his death, thus it shows their decline from civilised British boys to primitive hunters. At the end of the book the
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