Simon As A Historical Figure In Lord Of The Flies

Jesus Christ, a famous historical figure in Christianity, was considered to be God’s incarnation. The name Jesus Christ was given equal standing with the Father, God. Both were adored as creators. Jesus was depicted as everlasting, omnipresent, omniscient and almighty. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Simon’s resemblance to Jesus Christ is undeniable, in the aspects of his characteristics, qualities, actions, and most importantly, his death. Simon embodies a selfless, insightful, wise and kind, but misunderstood character. Similarly to Jesus Christ, Simon is willing to put others' needs before his own, as well as help guide others towards the path of righteousness, but ends up dying as a consequence of discovering the truth. For that

Golding describes Simon as a wise, mature and kind-hearted boy, much like how Jesus is known by everyone. Evidence of these characteristics can be seen during times like when he volunteered himself to explore the island, building the shelters, searching for the “beast” and so forth. During the boy’s first assembly, Ralph and Jack decided to explore the area to confirm whether or not they were on an island, Simon then stepped forward and offered his help, which unveils his helpful and considerate nature. Another instance of Simon’s helpful nature was during an assembly, everyone had to work together to help build the shelters. However, Simon was the only one who actually consistently worked with Ralph to build the shelters. Simon would also give up his own food for the other boys, like when he offered his food to Piggy after the first hunt. Simon is a selfless boy who cared for the littluns, “found for them the fruit they could not reach” (68), and cared for those who were unable to do things themselves. In the Bible, Jesus was well known to be loving towards children and caring about others. “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled”. (Matthew 15:36-37) Hence, this has proven that Simon’s and Christ’s personalities are entirely identical. Both beings

Simon goes to his “special” place on the island for solitude, spending time away from the other boys and away from everything. The Lord of the Flies ominously declared that “Simon will never be able to escape him, for he lies within all human beings”. He, the Lord of the Flies, also promised to have fun with Simon, which in turn caused Simon to be terrified, later on collapsing. With the help of the conversation Simon had with the Lord of the Flies, the readers are able to figure out the truth about the beast which the boys have been scared of this entire time. Many many years prior, Jesus Christ experienced a similar occurrence which Simon did. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness in solitude, and during the 40 days, he encountered the devil. Satan offered him food, power and wealth. Despite how tempting these offers were, Jesus rejected it. Both Simon and Jesus had similar encounters during their time in the wilderness in solitude, they faced similar situations when they were spending their alone time. Golding purposely chose for Simon to encounter the same thing Christ did, in order to clearly establish the reader’s understanding that Simon is meant to represent a Christ