Simon As A Christ Figure

Once Simon has fully meditated on the inherent sickness of human nature, he comes to truly understand his role as the Christ-figure. It is at this point that Simon begins to experience moments that emphasize his role as such, as like Jesus taking up his own ministry, he must wait to grow from a modest carpenter to a prophet in his own rights. One of the defining moments that demonstrate this is when he calmly prophesies to Ralph, “I just think you’ll get back alright” (111). At first, it seems as if Simon’s loyalty and optimism is what drives him to comfort Ralph in such a way, believing that they will be rescued, trusting in Ralph to keep them together and lead them home. However, reading between the lines, Simon’s choice in saying that Ralph
In a way, it is almost as if someone else is talking through him, taking on another voice entirely. Another defining moment for Simon as the Christ-figure comes from his interaction with the sow’s head. Lying in his Garden of Eden, which has now been tarnished by the sin of man bringing rot and death to the once beautiful paradise, dehydration and stifling heat cause Simon to hallucinate. At last, Simon is a true mystic and prophet--outcasted and infinitely wise in his wisdom--and his hallucinations of the Lord of the Flies reflect a deeper intelligence within him that he is able to unlock and draw into. The moment is so disturbing and potent for Simon that not even shutting his eyes blocks out the pig’s head, as he can only focus on the way their “half-shut eyes were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life,” assuring Simon “that everything was a bad business” (137). Even within his trance, Simon recognizes that this creature is a manifestation of the evil that exists within all people--the true beast that the boys had feared, ironically created by their own
Its eyes representing the jaded expectation of adults to see the inherent evil within one another, fueled by selfishness. Attempting to poison Simon’s character with this dark belief of human nature, he aims to convince the boy that all people are inherently bad and unable to be saved. Fighting to remain strong, Simon finds his eyelids half closed, “as though he were imitating the obscene thing on the stick” (143). This line demonstrates the powers the Lord of the Flies has over even him, as he is dangerously close to subcombing. Yet the Lord of the Flies’ dismal outlook on life has the opposite effect on Simon. Instead, it helps him to realize that understanding and being aware of humanity’s inherent sickness--a tendency to sin selfishly--can be used to prevent people from acting out these evil desires. In a way, this scene mirrors Jesus’s own encounter with Satan. Both Jesus and Simon are left starved and weakened within the wilderness, and must deny the Devil’s temptations by ways of morality and faith