Simon

• Simon is often said to represent the religious impulse in human beings.  More accurately, perhaps, he is perceived as a mystic: someone who sees into the supernatural or metaphysical world.  
• He is also a contemplative: someone who withdraws from the company of others in order to gain understanding of deeper things. 
• At the beginning of the novel, Simon is a member of the choir.  The fact that he does not descend into savagery like the rest of the choir suggests that he is able to resist temptation.  Simon has a gift for sanctity. 
• He is also an observer of nature and, in particular, he appreciates its beauty.  The passage in which Simon finds the candle-buds makes us aware of this early in the novel. 
• Simon represents those in society who are persecuted for being different. 
• Simon: derived from Hebrew name Shim’on which means ‘one who listens’ or ‘one who observes’. 
• The first thing that Simon does is to faint because of the heat.  His physical frailty is in contrast with his spiritual strength.  It also echoes the fact that people with a strong spirituality are often the first victims of oppressive regimes, because people who crave temporal power often fear those with spiritual power. 
• Simon is aware of the spiritual forces at work in the boys.  He knows that the true “beast” is lurking in the human soul, but like many mystics, his attempt to communicate this fact is met with incomprehension by the other boys. 
• It is Simon who confronts the evil within the boys in the passage in which he encounters the pig’s head on a stick.
• When Simon speaks with the Lord of the Flies, his actions can be compared with the actions of Christ in the wilderness.  Simon, like Christ, is fasting and, like Christ, he resists temptation. 
• Simon is also the first character to have the courage to go and find the dead airman.  He alone has realised that the boys’ fears are misplaced.  There is nothing to fear in the “beast” on the mountain; but there is everything to fear in the beast within… 
• Ultimately, Simon is a martyr.  He dies a passive death at the hands of a frenzied mob, and is mistaken for the beast itself.  Simon’s death may be compared with the death of Christ, which is often said in Christian theology to involve Christ taking the sins of the world upon himself. 
• Ironically, the description of Simon’s dead body being washed away by the ocean is exceptionally beautiful.  Once again, this may be compared to religious icons of the death of Christ, the saints and other spiritual figures.  The body of Simon seems to be transfigured and glorified in death. 
• Represents spirituality - ‘I just think that you'll get back all right.’ 
• Physically frail but spiritually strong - ‘flopped on his face’ 
• Understands what the beast is - ‘Maybe it’s only us’ ‘the picture of a human at once heroic and sick’ 
• Is courageous 
• Is a martyr - ‘layer of silver’, ‘dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness’ 
• Simon is a skinny boy whose reticence and solitude sets him apart from the other boys.
• The Littluns are fond of Simon, often following him around. A number of references in the novel liken him to a Christ-like figure. Indeed, the naval officer's arrival at the end is crucial in ensuring Simon's prophecy come true [about Ralph getting back to where he came from].
• He is the only one who recognises the beast for what it is but lacks the words to express what he has perceived.
• 'We used his [Piggy's] specs.. he helped that way' ch2
• 'He found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled of the choicest... and passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands' ch3
• 'Simon... shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy' ch4
• 'What I mean is... maybe it's only us [the beast]' ch5
• 'Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind's illness' ch5
• 'He knew that one of his times was coming on' ch8
• 'The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible' ch9