lotf simon

• "He's always throwing a faint."'


  In primitive societies fainting is sometimes associated with shamanism.

  Right from the start it is implied that Simon has an affinity with nature, and a deeper understanding of the world.
• "Like candles. Candle bushes. Candle buds."'

  Contrasts with J's reaction to the candle bushes.

  S = imaginative and in harmony with nature.
• He was a small, skinny boy.'

  'His feet were bare like Jack's.'


  Similar to Jack physically.

  Perhaps Golding is suggesting that everyone, even Simon, has the potential for evil?
• Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach... passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands.'

  Perhaps a biblical allusion? Similar to Jesus feeding the 5000.

  If so, it foreshadows Simon's death and supports the interpretation that he is somehow meant to represent Jesus.

  CONTEXT: Golding was a Christian.
• The deep sea...made an undertone less perceptible than the susurration of the blood.'


  Personification?

  Links Simon with nature, suggests he is connected to and in sync with the natural world and its rhythms.
• Simon looked... from Ralph to Jack... and what he saw seemed to make him afraid.'

  Simon is intuitive: he sees where things are heading.
• "You! What were you mucking around in the dark for?"' -Ralph


  Foreshadows S's death.
• "What I mean is... maybe it's only us."'

  'However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick.'

  '"I don't believe in the beast."'


  S is the first to suggest that the beast is internal.

  He somehow guesses that the beast is the parachutist.

  He has good foresight and a deeper, wider understanding of events that the other boys (even Piggy) lack.
• "You'll get back to where you came from."'

  Intuition

  Different kind of intelligence to Piggy's
• The half-shut eyes were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life.'


  Recognises that adults contain darkness too.

  This is a key difference between S and Piggy. Piggy relies on adult's behaviour as a model for his own. S is much more aware of the wider situation than P is (it's set in a WAR!)
• Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill.'

  Tries to reveal truth, but isn't listened to and is killed instead.

  Very biblical. Simon =Jesus?
• creatures, with their fiery eyes... busied themselves around his head.'

  Represents halo. (and perhaps hope?)

  Once again aligns Simon with Jesus.
• Simon's dead body moved out towards the open sea.'

  Water often represents the unconscious.

  Simon has always been associated with a deeper understanding of the unconscious mind (and the inherent darkness within it).

  His 'absorption' into the unconscious suggests a reversion of the natural order. This reversion can also been seen in the parachutist, who came from the sky, and is eventually returned to the sky).
• "He's queer. He's funny". "He's cracked"-Chapter 3: The other boys recognise that Simon is different to them in some way
• "a secret place in a clearing full of flowers and butterflies"- Chapter 3: Scene at the end of Chapter 3 when he retreats from the other boys shows he is one with nature, as he has a secret place to retreat to.
• Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us.-Chapter 5: Simon is more insightful than the boys, but struggles to convince the others
• 'You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?.... You're not wanted.'-Chapter 8: Simon hallucinates and talks to the sow's head and it becomes clear that the 'beast' is the boys
• 'The beast was on its knees in the centre, its arms folded over its face'-Chapter 9: Golding uses irony in Simon's death as the only person who can liberate the boys from their fear of the 'beastie' is killed as the beast (again, strong allusion to Christ)
• 'surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea'-Chapter 9: descriptions of his death have connotations relating to the death of Christ