Simon Lord Of The Flies Essay

In the chaotic and violent novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding features a group of young British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island, with no adults among them. But the island is not as it seems and feels almost “as if you’re. being hunted” (53). One of the boys on the island is Simon, an outlier among the group who has a “coarse mop of black hair” (55) and a “pointed chin” (55). He shows kindness when the other boys show cruelty. Golding portrays the novel’s key idea that despite the presence of evil, goodness is still present, through Simon's time spent on the island and his actions, of comfort and kindness towards the other boys. As Simon and another boy, Ralph, are helping build shelters for the group, Ralph notices that

Despite being stranded on the island, Simon tries to comfort Ralph, hoping that all will be well and that the boy will make it home safely. Golding highlights the event to invoke Simon’s importance to the novel and create an opportunity for Simon to show his kind nature despite being surrounded by people who wish to commit violence and harm to the inhabitants of the island. Golding enquires how Simon has no idea whether or not the boys will get rescued but despite the lack of hope and belief from the others, he believes that they will be rescued. While Simon stays in the forest, the other boys go hunting and brutally murder a mother pig. The other hunters leave the sow’s head on a stick, as a “gift for the beast” (137), a seemingly ubiquitous character. Simon witnesses the violent event and withdraws from his hideout in the woods to greet the so-called gift. Pondering, he wonders if it is all a “joke really” (137), but the pig grins at him with “inescapable recognition” (138), seeing all that the boys have done and what they will do the longer they stay on the