Lord Of The Flies - What Leads To Simons Death

In the midst of a fiery excitement, a small young boy emerges out of a dusky tropical rainforest. The boy is mistaken for the prey of the boys and is mercilessly speared to death by the crowd. He held the key to their salvation, why didn't they seem to care? Were they just ignorant or was something inside them persuading them against salvation? What diverted their motives? Who is this boy and what was their prey?

Simon is set apart from the others early in the book as we notice how he is not always on the same wavelength as the others. He is a calm, passive, and excessively timid young boy. He is considered as quite a joke by the majority of the boys, however the things he say have a devastating effect on the events that follow. The more mature boys on the island tend to give Simon more of a chance to speak, this is because they know that he is unusually smart and insightful compared to the other boys. You may wonder what would have happened on the island if it wasn't for Simon. The beast would not exist, perhaps they would become savages, but the beast would not exist. Simon is responsible for the beast; therefore he has an overwhelming effect on how the events roll out.

Simon has many uncanny similarities to Jesus. Firstly he was killed by the very ones he wanted to help, and also everything he says has a great impact, negative and positive. Simon makes very controversial statements at the assemblies. These statements are not easy to swallow for most of the boys as he is usually confirming their greatest fears. He is a lot like Piggy, because he has the right motives, and the correct advice, he just doesn't know how to inform and persuade the others. Piggy obviously notices this and is a kind and supportive friend of Simons at the assembly. Simon returns this by only trusting piggy not to laugh at him.

You may notice that Simon is completely impartial from all the savage behaviour, even Ralph was more involved in it than he was. Simon is the biggest individual on the island; he has no friends except Ralph and Piggy who 'protect' him from the others. When Jack takes control over the boys the only one who has the power (not the potential) to remove Jacks control, is Simon. Unfortunately he is terribly outspoken. His wisdom is particularly unrealistic considering his age. One could speculate that the reason he sees the beast is because he is suffering from an epileptic fit, this argument is reinforced later when the lord of the flies' talks to him, or rather, he talks to himself.

Can you imagine knowing the meaning of life, but having no means to convey it to others? This is Simon's situation; it is a matter of life and death to convince the boys that the beast is mythical and doesn't exist. Ironically he