An Analysis of the Character ‘Simon’ in William Golding’s

By David Kurtz

September 2001, Waynflete

Simon is pegged from the beginning as an outsider, even among the Choirboys; he is regarded with scorn by his Choir leader and at most with sympathy (but only sympathy for a pathetic thing; condescending sympathy) by the other boys. He is prone to fainting fits, we are told, even though we only see one such true episode. It is said that, after Simon travels no more than a few hundred yards, that he becomes faint and has a bit of a "spell".

Simon is the figure of Jesus Christ in the story of Lord of the Flies as a pre-adolescent martyred redeemer. The religious parables in LotF are numerous, and besides many obvious analogies, there are many inter-textual references to the Bible which are to be found in the book.

The first direct lines to be found in Lord of the Flies that link Simon to a religious figure are those describing the Choir (specifically Jack’s uniform). Simon is placed among the ranks of members of a Christian sect (most probably Anglican, from their English background to their repeated references to times they sang [Lauds, Vespers, Matins, etc.]). This may be interpreted as the analogous statement "Christ walks with / among the Anglicans", which would come out as a strong statement in support of the Church of England. This is, of course, antithetical to the fact that it is those very members of the Choir who are the first to turn to tribal savagery, which could be interpreted as a message against the decadence of the Church.

The first direct Biblical parable is an event directly caused by Simon. At this point in the story, some of the smaller children were trying (and failing) to reach fruit on a high tree branch. "Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach...[and] passed [the fruits] back down to the endless, outstretched hands." (Chapter 3, pg. 51) This could be considered an allusion to the miracles of Christ, perhaps the creating of Fishes from Loaves for the people to eat, or the turning of Water to Wine for the people to drink. Both the above passage and the aforementioned Biblical lines could both be interpreted as a ‘messenger’ analogy; Christ, bringing forth the fruits of the farmer’s and fisherman’s labor, has been seen as a metaphor for the delivery of fruits of knowledge to mankind. This point can be illustrated even better by Simon as he is reaching out to pluck actual fruit from actual tall trees and giving them to the hungry young'ns.

Simon’s fainting fits have been allegorically referenced to ‘visions’ in many literary essays. While it is probable that this is not a direct inter-textual reference to Jesus' contact with the Father, it has been said of numerous Catholic (and therefore, for the most part, Anglican) Saints that they experiences visions, visitations by previous saints, and such spells. Even the term for such fits is ‘spells’ and contains mystical undertones.

The culminating event of Simon's time on the island is his contact with ‘The’ Lord of the Flies. The primary fact that strikes the reader here is that Simon is not terribly afraid of the Beast, indicating a greater knowledge of it. Fear, in this case, would probably not be the result of fear of infectious disease from rotting pig flesh, but more likely primordial fear of the unknown. Simon’s lack of fear for the Lord denotes a knowledge or understanding of it, a knowledge that even Simon's powers of philosophical analysis could not produce. That level of spiritual syllogism seems to me to be beyond even the powers of young ascetic Simon; maybe it was imparted to him by a higher power.

Simon has a conversation with the Head, which is rather one-sided; Simon stands there, eyes squinting and mouth gaping, while Beelzebub in his splendor and glory verbally abuses and threatens him. After Simon’s identification that the sow’s head is Beelzebub, he blacks out. He is next seen stumbling through the underbrush out of the jungle and into the beach, where he is slain by the now-forming Hunter’s Tribe. He is muttering about the beast all the while, perhaps trying to give an adaptation of the Sermon-on-the-Mount, when he is encircled and killed.

The post-mortem experiences befalling Simon are categorized by two quotes, ""The water rose farther and dressed Simon's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble…[S]urrounded 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, pg. 140). This is, without question, a parable to the bodily ascent of Jesus to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is also in stark contrast to the later death of Piggy, which is of a more practical nature: falling, crushing, realistic death by impact and forced bludgeoning, the coroner’s report would read.

Then there is the Biblical reference where thrice Piggy denies complicity in Simon's death, like Saint Peter's denial of his involvement with the early Christians. "We was on the outside. We never done nothing, we never seen nothing." (Chapter 10, pg. 143) This only serves to support the idea that Simon was a Christ-like figure.

In summation, it can be said that Simon is the character of Jesus, Saint, Martyr, and Siddharthan Ascetic in the story of Lord of the Flies. His character's ties to Jesus and Christian history/myth/dogma, and his subsequent martyrdom, give the reader an even more frightening impression of the boys' depravity.

David Axel Kurtz, 2001