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How Is Simon A Christ-Like Figure In Lord Of The Flies

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It does not matter where you are; an island or a school does not change the malice of murder. Simon, a significant character in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, is portrayed as a Christ-like figure who is savagely killed by a group of boys. All the boys that were trapped on the island presumed there was a beast lurking around due to their immature minds. Moreover, these boys created a chant and a dance of their own to feel safe. As they began to do this during a wild storm, all the excitement of the dance led them to somehow think that Simon was the beast .As a group they attacked Simon and ripped him, like animals. Consequently, the boys killing Simon is their fault to sustain. As the boys were aware that they were killing someone, Simon’s …show more content…

As Ralph and Simon are working hard, Ralph, a hard-working and righteous leader, informed, “All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing” (Golding, Lord 50). Simon could have joined the other boys that were having fun; nevertheless, Simon was kind to help Ralph build shelters. He stayed to assist Ralph because he cared for the welfare of the group. It did not matter if most of the boys were strangers to him, Simon knew it was a good thing to do. As a result of his death, Simon’s effort to contribute to this group went unnoticed. When Simon arrives to warn the boys, Simon “was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill ….At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast screamed, struck, bit, tore” (Golding, Lord 152-153). From the way Simon’s murder is described, he died distinctly with pain. It was not only physical hurt inflicted on him, but the pain of betrayal when he tried to warn them. On some level, the boys knew Simon, thought as the beast, was human because he said something close to English by shouting about the corpse on the mountaintop. Instead of being intrigued or contemplating about it, they killed Simon with malevolence. The crowd punished Simon with an undeserved death since Simon deserved to be honored for his

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Simon’s death serves as a way to prove that people are more evil than good. Simon was in the forest, and learned how the beast was false and didn't exist. When he comes out of the forest at night, Jack and his group ritualistically murder him. Even though at first it seems like it's a mistake, a later quote

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This is why I felt like they really didn’t care. Jack and his hunters were also unaware about the fact that they’ve killed a person, for they still believed it was the beast so there is no way that they will be affected. In addition, Simon was the only person who knew the truth about the beast, so if he was just able to tell the others the truth, things would have not gone downhill. It’s ironic how the boys thought that Simon was the beast, when in fact, it is they, who has qualities similar to a beast. I also think that at this point of the story, the hunters really became savages and lost their

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This gets him nowhere among the boys, and he stays a follower. Since the boys are split up, Simon is the only one to believe there is no beast, and he dies attempting to preach there is no beast. Jack’s ruthless hunters attacked him when he was “crying out something about a dead man on a hill” (Golding 152). This shows Simon is a smart guy, but his lackadaisical attitude leads him to his demise, which ends up being his most significant failure, costing him his

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698 Words | 3 Pages

Envision this: you’re a young schoolboy on an island with other boys your age, no parents, and a beast. What could this beast possibly be though? In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, young schoolboys have run away from their homes to fend-off rules and wind up coming in contact with a beast. This beast evolves throughout the story and appears to symbolize a multitude of things.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel by William Golding Lord of the Flies, the young english men that are left alone on the island make contact with many important symbols that help to display ideas and concepts. Through symbols like the beast, the Lord of the Flies, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when freed from civilization’s rules and restrictions, allow their primal necessity for evil to control their life. A symbol that is arguably the most important object in the book,the book’s namesake, the pig's head. Golding's description of the murdered animal's head on a spear is very dark and more so scary. The boar's head is depicted as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood getting darker between the teeth," the "obscene thing" is covered

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165 Words | 1 Pages

To add on, the group was forced mentally to complete the nasty task. Following, Simon died trying to tell the truth. He died trying to save the ones who were brutally beating him to death. “It was crying out against the abominable noise , something about a body on a

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The boys had to kill Simon because they had to have something to blame their savage actions on. They couldn’t comprehend, or did not want to face the fact that they had committed horrible acts on their own free will for no purpose other that they enjoyed being ruleless

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(2) In “The Lord of Flies” Simon stood as a Christ-like figure. Simon seems to care for everyone, even the younger boys that the others could care less about, and he is reasonable. In chapter 4, when Jack does not give Piggy any meat after a hunt because he says Piggy did nothing to help collect or cook the food, Simon shares his meat with him. On page 68 it says, “Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it.”

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When they caught first glimpse of it, they immediately jumped on him and brutally tore him to pieces, “At once, the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beats, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements, but the tearing of teeth and claws”(Golding 153). All the boys joined in on this, and not a single one stopped to actually see that the beast was Simon. Everyone got over excited and violence just took hold of their bodies. The beast they had inside they made them hungry for killing, which controlled them to act barbaric and leave their civilized manners

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149 Words | 1 Pages

The kids were scared so they started chanting so they can feel brave and powerful. While they were chanting Simon was stabbed to death by friends and fellow choir members. This shows that the boys wanted to kill the beast, in this case Simon, as animals and didn’t care what they were doing. Golding brought

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937 Words | 4 Pages

The turning point in their loss of childhood and innocence was when they murder their first victim. When Simon dies, all innocence is lost on the island which reinforces Golding’s theme that when innocence is gone, irrational thinking and violence will occur.

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This shows that the boys are only afraid of themselves, because they are their own worst enemy. He is the first to figure out that the beast is not an actual beast, and how it is only the boys becoming savage, and starting to be afraid of one another. As Simon began to explain this to the doubtful boys, he was the only one who died knowing the

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Corruption’s Rise to Power Combined Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler killed 54 million people. This begs the question, why do people who are clearly corrupted and even murderous followed by many? William Golding in his novel The Lord of the Flies attempts to answer that question through his portrayal of the character, Jack. In the novel, a group of boys get stranded on an island and attempt to create a proper government.

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Even as Simon spoke about a “body on a Hill”(Golding 152), he was killed because of fear for one's own life obstructed the children’s view. This happens in war when people kill others, to help themselves go through with the killing they would never do at home, they are taught to fear others and kill to protect themselves and others. Leaders might scare them with speeches on the enemies evil nature. For example, they might say they”ll ruin life in the U.S if you don’t kill them. In the book they did something like this when Jack said Ralph will “try to spoil thing we do so watchers at the gate must be careful”(160).

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733 Words | 3 Pages

The collective fear of the unknown leads to the untimely and accidental death of Simon. The distress present in the boys causes their impulsive action, of Simon’s horrific murder. Fear of “the beast” an imaginary creature causes the boys to act irrational, and provokes survival instincts as a result of life threatening terror. The fear of the boys in this moment is epitomized when they chant, “Kill the beast!, Cut his throat, Spill his blood!” (168).

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