Simon in Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, which means that author William Golding conveys many of his main ideas and themes through symbolic characters and objects. Simon is a character who represents a larger concept or value. That value is morality. A person who is moral has a behavioral sense of what is good and bad, or right and wrong in a situation. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, Simon represents morality because of his views on the beast, the fact that his morals never waver, and his interactions with other characters. Simon is a unique character in Lord of the Flies, because he is the only boy who does not believe in the beast. He does, however, have hallucinatory conversations with it. In these conversations, Simon’s strong moral grounding becomes quite clear. The Lord of the Flies tries to tempt Simon, telling him that his life would be better if he behaved the way the other boys do. He threatens him, saying, “You’re not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don’t try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else…” (Goldman 131). The Lord of the Flies also tells Simon that the beast is real, because he is the beast. Simon does not fall for the trap or give in to temptation because it is against his moral values. “Pig’s head on a stick” (Goldman 130), Simon says to the Lord of the Flies. By not allowing his civilization to slip away, Simon is able to understand what the beast truly is: it is a savage instinct that is inside all of the boys that influences their every decision. Simon also shows morality when he tries to explain to the other boys that the beast does not exist. It would be easier for him to go along with Jack, and blend in with the crowd, but that is not his character. Simon knows that the beast does not exist, and he cannot be swayed away from this belief, because it would be against his moral
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