Simon Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

"More inhumanity has been done by man himself than any other of nature's causes." Samuel von Pufendorf’s quote, as twisted as it may be, rings true in William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, in which British schoolboys stranded on an island make the swift descent into unyielding savagery. Beginning the novel with rules mirroring the society from which they originated, the boys quickly fall at the hands of their internalized animalistic motivation. Adolescents, old enough to know right from wrong and societal order, are still not completely rid of the impulses that lurk in the shadows. The main characters of Ralph, Jack, Simon, and Piggy are developed to convey Golding’s philosophical message of innate evil, and while each boy symbolizes something unique, it is Simon whose character arc is the most instrumental to the story. Simon’s innate goodness and his status as a visionary are revealed through his physical description and personality, his conversation with the “Lord of the Flies”, and, ultimately, his death, all of which deepen the novel's theme and purpose, that nothing good can last in the darkness of man’s heart. Golding uses a vivid description of Simon’s features to highlight his
Originally Simon evokes an image of compassion and vision; his death at the hands of the boys is used to symbolize Golding's theme of civilization against chaos, and specifically that savageness is the default of man and rules with an iron fist of fear willing to crush all goodness that poses a threat. The novel is a microcosm of Golding's view of the world. Simon, righteous in his heart, is allusive of something greater. This greater good is washed away with Simon, and through this Golding makes his meaning clear: gone is the good and the kind, and it is then replaced by man’s true condition: