Simon in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

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Simon in William Golding's Lord of the Flies At the beginning of the novel, William Golding has described Simon as 'a Christ-figure, a lover of mankind a visionary.' We first met him anonymously, he is the child of whom Jack speaks despairingly in Chapter 1. Thereafter we see more of him alone than in company, for his shyness makes it difficult for him to summon up the courage to speak publicly. Yet his affection for the other boys never wanes. He dies trying to give them the simple enlightenment that the beast they fear is non-existent. Simon makes the intuitive discovery that all the terrors on the island exist within the boys themselves, the psychological factor of the 'beast' that is their own imagination. Simon is seen as the Christ of the group, the sympathetic and caring one. In Chapter 3 we start to see some advancement in the building of their shelters and homes. Everyone seemed to be amazed that Simon helped in building the shelters for the rest of the group. We can tell this as Jack says, 'Simon. He helps. He pointed at the shelters.' We are told lat...

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