ipl-logo

How Does Golding Present Simon's Death In Lord Of The Flies

544 Words3 Pages

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding demonstrates through Simon’s conversation with Ralph, his conversation with the Lord of the Flies, and the weather, that there is a beast inside all of us. Through these three events, Golding foreshadows Simon’s death, increasing the savagery, and leading to a decline in civilization. Through Simon’s conversation with Ralph, Golding foreshadowed Simon’s death on the island. Ralph was watching the body of water surrounding the island. Watching as the waves moved up and down, feeling hopeless and imagining a ship coming to rescue them. Then Simon came to Ralph. Ralph noticed he was holding rocks in his hand, and his body was arched and his neck stiff. In Simon's conversation with Ralph, Simon said, “I think you’ll get back all right” (Golding 71). When Simon said this, he had not mentioned himself escaping the island, but telling Ralph that he will make it out alright. Therefore, Simon believes that something will happen to him. One can infer that Simon’s death would be …show more content…

This event was included by Golding to furthermore foreshadow Simon's death. Simon was in the forest and saw the head of a pig on a stick, an offering for the imaginary beast given by Jack and his followers. As Simon approached the figure, he started hallucinating. He was talking to the Lord of the Flies. During their conversation, the Lord of the Flies says, “You’re not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island!” (Golding 93). The Lord of the Flies tells Simon they were going to have fun on the island and that Simon was not wanted. When he said have fun, he did not mean they would play around and have fun, but he was foreshadowing Simon's tragic death. In addition, Simon believes that the beast does not exist, but it is inside everyone, corrupting them from civilization, and leading them into

Show More
Related
368 Words | 2 Pages

On page 154 of Lord of the Flies, as the body of the supposed ‘beast’ is revealed to be Simon, the collapse of the boys’ innocence and civilization is conveyed through William Golding’s carefully selected words. Right after an especially violent scene, in which the boys become the most violent they have been throughout the whole novel, Golding makes a drastic transition to a scene that is described beautifully and calmly. This moment of peace and tranquility, despite the immensely devastating incident of Simon’s death, makes for heavy contrast with the rest of the chapter, as well as the rest of the novel. Details in the form of words that are typically associated with a positive connotation, such as “pearls”, “clearness”, “smoothed”,

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

Simon’s Constant Battle in Which Savagery Prevails The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is about how savagery initiates the loss of innocence. Simon was a kindhearted, innocent individual who was murdered due to savagery. It is inferred that Simon loses his innocence from death. In William Golding’s writing, Simon is a pivotal character and a victim that shows the overruling of savagery on the island.

Read More
598 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel Lord of The Flies, William Golding uses figurative language to demonstrate how upon Simon’s death, the nature of the island shifts and Simon is finally at peace while his body drifts out to sea. Because the boys have been on the island for quite some time, they have hit rock bottom, throwing away any sign of logic left and becoming consumed in savageness. This being said, when Simon comes crawling into their circle on the night of a menacing storm, the boys claim he is the island beast, causing them to attack him mercilessly. After the boys have finished the violent killing, they retreat to the shelters, leaving Simon’s body stranded on the beach. His body lays on the beach of the island, where “the air was cool, moist, and clear; and presently even the sound of the

Read More
676 Words | 3 Pages

Simon also gets an opportunity to walk within the forest and would disagree with Jack. Simon who was also on the choir before landing on the island. However, unlike the rest of the choir Simon decides not to join the hunters but become a part of the group led by Ralph. When Ralph and Jack go off to debate Simon goes of into the jungle for a walk. Simon, an anomaly to the group is not noticeably absent from this war of words.

Read More
1243 Words | 5 Pages

Later, this is confirmed when the Lord of the Flies speaks to him in the forest, telling him he “[shouldn’t] try to escape” (136) because he knows “perfectly well” (136) that he will not. As the island was divided over whether or not the beast was real, Simon believed it was not and wanted to help the others come together once again by proving that the beast they feared was only inside

Read More
894 Words | 4 Pages

When Simon first encounters the Lord of the Flies, he realizes that it is a manifestation of the boys' fear and savagery. He thinks to himself, "Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you?" (Chapter 8).

Read More
993 Words | 4 Pages

Simon is the only kid on the island who still cares for the littluns by feeding them and making them shelter and a well-rested night's sleep. Even so, not all wonderful experiences can last with Golding, so he decides to play a bit of foreshadowing with Simon’s death with a pig head. When Simon had gotten lost in the woods, he accidentally stumbles across Jack’s sacrifice to “The Beast”, which is a pig’s head on a stick. The Pig head had begun threatening Simon because “we are going to have fun on this island! So don’t try it..”

Read More
678 Words | 3 Pages

His personality traits show that he is devoted spiritually, non-violent, in harmony with the world, and empathetic. Simon is characterized as an outsider because he has seizures, but the boys think he is pretending because it occurs very often. Later on, Simon has a conversation with The Lord of the Flies, which is a dead pig’s head. Their conversation resembles Christ’s conversation with the devil during his forty days in the wilderness. The Lord of the Flies was trying to convince Simon that evil was inside the boys and that Simon was good but everyone was going to have fun except for Simon.

Read More
830 Words | 4 Pages

Simon becomes aware of his internal cruelty when it manifests itself in hallucinatory forms as “The Lord of the Flies”. Simon at first lacks the understanding and cannot comprehend what is happening until the hallucination says “‘Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head. For a moment or two the forest and other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. ‘You knew didn’t you?

Read More
426 Words | 2 Pages

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s portrayal of the stranded boys’ bloodlust shows a childhood filled with tribulation and terror. Golding showcases his belief that all men contain wicked desires when the boys abandon their attempts of democracy on the island. Their time spent on the island reveals that even childhood innocence turns dark without society enforcing justice. Simon’s hallucination with the pig’s head creates a physical representation of the evil that took over the stranded boys. The pig tells Simon, “fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

The quote “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head.” (Golding 164) expresses that the Lord of the Flies is divulging to Simon that the evil is not something that can be hunted or killed but is within the boys. Simon also learns that the beast of evilness was in the boys all along. The theme Inherent Evil of Man is displayed through Simon learning that evil is within the boys and that this was the beast. This shows how the evil action appears as a beast and the understanding of evilness by

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

William Golding’s writing “lays a solid foundation for the horrors to come,” as novelist E.M. Forster suggests in his introduction to the novel. In the earlier chapters of Lord of the Flies, Golding foreshadows the deaths of Piggy and Simon in many ways. For example, in chapter 1, the reader is introduced to Ralph as he walks through the jungle. “He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry, and this cry was echoed by another,” (pg.7) Golding writes. The bird is an example of foreshadowing, its cries following one another representing how Simon dies and then Piggy follows, and its colors symbolizing the painted savages that had killed both of those

Read More
960 Words | 4 Pages

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding weaves in biblical ties through characters and their actions to explore whether man is inherently good or evil. In the book, Golding expresses Simon’s character as a parallel to Jesus through the events leading up to his death, including the death itself. On page 135, Jack chooses to begin the tribal hunt to celebrate the formation of a new tribe and the welcoming of new members. As “the chant rose a tone in agony,”(Golding 136) everyone became excited and nervous. Injured from passing out, Simon stumbled into the middle of the hunt as the chant rose with the sound of fear and desire.

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

Simon knew the truth of the “beast” but ended getting massacred by jack's group in a fit of fear and blood thirst from the thunderstorm that set the mood. In chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies, William Golding employs symbolism, diction, and animal imagery to convey the theme that human nature can be horrible when cornered by fear and power. When

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

During Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies, Golding reveals the central issue concerning human nature. Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that the beast is inside each boy and cannot be killed. The boys go from behaving like civilized young men to brutal savages. “What I mean is…maybe it’s only us.”

Read More

More about How Does Golding Present Simon's Death In Lord Of The Flies

Related Topics

Open Document