In the novel the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, strong parallels have been drawn between Simon and Jesus Christ. In the novel, Simon is described as a Christ-like figure. Although William Golding does not directly connect the Christian symbolism to The Lord of the Flies, we can clearly see that Simon is indeed the resemblance of Jesus Christ for he is a wise, mature and insightful character just as how Christ is known as, being sacrificed as a consequence of discovering the truth regarding the beast, and also, his conversation with the Lord of the Flies corresponds to Jesus Christ’s confrontation with the devil during Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, as told in the Christian Gospels.
In the Lord of the Flies, Simon portrays many characteristics similar to those Jesus Christ had while he was on earth. He is a wise, mature, and kind-hearted boy, just like how Jesus Christ is known by all people. These characteristics can be shown during the time when Simon sneaks off and goes into the jungle alone after he has finished helping Ralph in building the shelter. He “ turned his back and walked into the forest with an air of purpose” (Golding 55). From this, we can see that Simon is indeed wise and mature in the sense that he does not want to be involved in the argument between Ralph and Jack. To him, it is merely something of no great concern. Similarly, Jesus withdrew himself from his disciples and went into the wilderness to pray alone, in order to seek the face of God (Holy). Besides, Simon finds and “ picks fruit for the littluns from spots they cannot reach, then he passes the fruits to their hands” (Golding 56). Simon was not at all required to perform this service, yet he did. He did the best he could (Sparknotes). Likewise, Jesus cares for little children too. The Lord even once said, “ Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of
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Mr. Colin James Boucher
ENG3U
20th September 2010
heaven belongs to such as these” (Holy). Hence, this has shown that Simon and Jesus Christ do have something in common in their personalities.
Apart from that, as written by William Golding, Simon is killed sacrificially by the other boys on the island as a consequence of having discovered the truth about the beast. Initially, Simon attempts to explain that the boys themselves, or something related to the human nature could be the beast that all of them are afraid of. He tells them that maybe there is a beast. However, none of boys actually believe him. Furthermore, Ralph even stands up in amazement in regards to Simon’s point of view about the beast (Golding 89). Nevertheless, Simon knows that the beast is harmless; therefore he must reveal the truth to them. This is due to the fact that he sees the need for the boys to understand the true identity of the beast. In the end, Simon eventually dies as a result of being made the scapegoat for the boys’ unshakeable fear. As a result of being mistaken as the beast, Simon is “ leapt on, struck, bit, and tore” (Golding 153). Similarly, Jesus Christ is killed for spreading the gospel to all people, as there were some who refused to believe in him. This is the main reason why He was crucified 2000 years ago. The Jewish “ mocked him, took off his robe, then they led him away to crucify him” (Holy). Although Jesus is not sinful, he was killed simply because people did not believe his words. During that time, no one believed that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God. This is exactly like what happens to Simon in the Lord of the Flies, in which both of them are sacrificed because no one believed in them.
Furthermore, Simon’s conversation with the Lord of the Flies demonstrates some characteristics similar to Jesus Christ’s confrontation with the devil during His forty days in the wilderness, as told in the Christian Gospels. In the novel, the Lord of the Flies tells Simon
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Mr. Colin James Boucher
ENG3U
20th September 2010
that evil lies within every human and because of that, he is going to have some “ fun”. It even tells him to “ run off and play with the others” (Golding 143). Besides, Simon is once again told by the Lord of the Flies that all of them will be unable to escape him, the beast, for it is inside the boys themselves. This somehow foreshadows Simon’s death in the later part of the novel. This shows that the Lord of the Flies, which is also the physical manifestation of the beast, has now become the symbol of power and evil as well as a kind of Satan figure who induces the beast within each human being (Sparknotes). Therefore, through Simon’s conversation with the Lord of the Flies, the readers of this novel are then able to know the truth about the beast that has been haunting all the stranded boys on the island all the time. At the same time, 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ experienced the same thing as Simon does in the Lord of the Flies. Jesus encountered the devil during His forty days in the wilderness. During that time, He had to face Satan. Satan offered Him food, power, and wealth. However, all those were completely rejected by Jesus. He answered Satan by saying “ Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Holy). Hence, from what Simon and Jesus Christ have encountered, where both of them had to face this situation when they are alone, William Golding has clearly portrayed Simon as a Christ-like figure in the novel.
As a whole, the character Simon, in the Lord of the Flies is indeed portrayed as the resemblance of Jesus Christ for he is wise, mature, and insightful, having been sacrificed as a consequence of discovering the truth, and also, his conversation with the Lord of the Flies parallels the confrontation between Jesus and the devil during Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, as told in the Christian Gospels. William Golding has shown some Christian
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Mr. Colin James Boucher
ENG3U
23rd September 2010
ideas and themes in his story by developing some parallel ideas between Simon and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, readers of the novel ought to always remember that the biblical parallels between Simon and Christ are not exactly complete; hence, they should not necessarily be the primary basis to interpreting the story (Sparknotes).
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Amanda Voon Yu Min Voon 5
Mr. Colin James Boucher
ENG3U
23rd September 2010
