William Golding’s Lord of the Flies writes about the ideas of people’s personalities and the evil within the human heart. Set within an island, a group of young boys set out to survive and be rescued; however, it is later seen how the boys end up being wild and savage when they’re left without adult supervision. Golding depicts Simon as a scapegoat whose exceptional persona on an island of chaos and anarchy makes him a target for the stranded boys’ hatred/evil. Starting early on in the novel, Simon shows a caring, generous personality, which becomes a stigma that he is “unique” in comparison to the other boys. Even though the norm for the biguns on the beach was to ignore or not help the littluns; Simon was different in that, “Simon found
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When he speaks with the Lord of the Flies, he first denies its mystical existence and its false claims, “‘Only me. And I [The Lord of the Flies] am the Beast.’ Simon’s mouth labored, brought forth audible words, ‘Pig’s head on a stick’” (143). Later, Simon begins to realize that there is something more than just the physical “pig’s head on a stick;” there was an underlying feature; a dark, evil feature. Simon looked within the mouth and saw, “there was blackness within, a blackness that spread” (144), he found the evil and hatred within the boys’ hearts. When Simon had regained his consciousness, he had no idea of what to do, “Simon got to his feet. The light was unearthly. The Lord of the Flies hung on his stick like a black ball. Simon spoke aloud to the clearing. ‘What else is there to do?’” (145). Eventually, Simon seeks to validate his discovery when he treks up the mountain to find that the presumable beast is actually a dead parachutist. The parachutist was what proved Simon’s discovery of the boys’ innate evil and hatred within them to be the …show more content…
Even though, he had the news of the beast and the discovery of evil within the boys, they still kill him, “‘Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill.’ ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!’ The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crushed and screamed” (152). The savagery and uncontrollable fear that they had, ended up making Simon become their scapegoat which proved Simon’s indifference against the boys. With the murder of Simon, his body is left on the beach and later swept out to sea, “The body lifted a fraction of an inch from the sand and a bubble of air escaped from the mouth with a wet plop. Then it turned gently in the water… Simon’s dead body moved out toward the open sea” (154). The movement of his body out to the water away from the island symbolizes his purification, his salvation and innate kindness by departing from the island of chaos and anarchy into the openness and freedom of the sea. In summary, Simon’s personality is ineffective and does not work in a society without adults and rules.
Simon’s anomalous personality on an island of disorder and lawlessness makes him a scapegoat and target of the boys’ hatred and evil. Savagery, loss of innocence, and illogic often beat out generosity, helpfulness, and kindness consequently leading to nonsensical and crazy
When he speaks with the Lord of the Flies, he first denies its mystical existence and its false claims, “‘Only me. And I [The Lord of the Flies] am the Beast.’ Simon’s mouth labored, brought forth audible words, ‘Pig’s head on a stick’” (143). Later, Simon begins to realize that there is something more than just the physical “pig’s head on a stick;” there was an underlying feature; a dark, evil feature. Simon looked within the mouth and saw, “there was blackness within, a blackness that spread” (144), he found the evil and hatred within the boys’ hearts. When Simon had regained his consciousness, he had no idea of what to do, “Simon got to his feet. The light was unearthly. The Lord of the Flies hung on his stick like a black ball. Simon spoke aloud to the clearing. ‘What else is there to do?’” (145). Eventually, Simon seeks to validate his discovery when he treks up the mountain to find that the presumable beast is actually a dead parachutist. The parachutist was what proved Simon’s discovery of the boys’ innate evil and hatred within them to be the …show more content…
Even though, he had the news of the beast and the discovery of evil within the boys, they still kill him, “‘Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill.’ ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!’ The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crushed and screamed” (152). The savagery and uncontrollable fear that they had, ended up making Simon become their scapegoat which proved Simon’s indifference against the boys. With the murder of Simon, his body is left on the beach and later swept out to sea, “The body lifted a fraction of an inch from the sand and a bubble of air escaped from the mouth with a wet plop. Then it turned gently in the water… Simon’s dead body moved out toward the open sea” (154). The movement of his body out to the water away from the island symbolizes his purification, his salvation and innate kindness by departing from the island of chaos and anarchy into the openness and freedom of the sea. In summary, Simon’s personality is ineffective and does not work in a society without adults and rules.
Simon’s anomalous personality on an island of disorder and lawlessness makes him a scapegoat and target of the boys’ hatred and evil. Savagery, loss of innocence, and illogic often beat out generosity, helpfulness, and kindness consequently leading to nonsensical and crazy