As Simon rushes to the campfire, "Stumbling through the thick sand," to tell his discovery to the boys, he is hit in the side with a spear, his prophecy rejected and the word he wished to spread ignored. Simon falls to the ground and dies. The description of his death, the manner in which he died, and the cause for which he died are remarkably similar to the circumstances of Christ’s life and ultimate demise. The major difference is that Christ died on the cross, while Simon was speared. However, a reader familiar with the Bible may recall that Christ was stabbed in the side with a spear before his crucifixion.
Moreover, Helios messages the thunder god to kill those who ate his cattle. It was this decree that made Zeus throw a bolt at Odysseus’ men, killing them all. Nevertheless, Odysseus’ prayer shields him from death. The cry to Zeus conveys that the hero needs help from the gods and is unable to do everything himself, thus showing Zeus he is learning humility. This shows progression because in the beginning of the journey Odysseus announces his successes and obstacles whereas, on Helios island, the hero calls for help knowing he can not surpass famine/every challenge.
(p.51) So we know about Jesus -- carrying about starving and suffering. After Christ was baptized he walked away to the desert and stayed there for forty days, meditating and praying. So did Simon. He felt better walking in the jungle alone, thinking, probably, dreaming, enjoying the power and the beauty of the nature. In that desert Christ also talked to God and I think it was the God's appeal to Simon when the large ray of light fell down from the sky.
Jacks tribe has a feast, Ralph and his tribe are also present and they are apart of the tribal dance that includes saying, "Kill the beast, cut its throat, spill its blood". (Golding 152) While all of that was happening Simon wanders off and talks to the Lord of the Flies. He tries to tell the boys of his new discovery 's, but the boys are so caught up in their chant that when Simon tries to come out of the bushes the kill him, mistaking him as the beast. “The water rose further and dressed Simon 's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble."
He starts off with the intention of killing the hitchhiker. Pancake states, “I make the big turn at Chimney Corners and see a hitchhiker standing there. His front is clean, and he looks half frozen, so I stop to let him in” (Pancake 84). From this statement, you can gather that he takes into consideration the look of the hitchhikers he stops for. By that, he decides whether or not they are worth his time in being killed and whether they would be a good meal for his hogs.
He is extremely selfless in giving the children the best food he can, when they’re all starving. Simon is putting the children before himself and giving them the best fruit he can find. Following that in chapter 5, Simon attempts to communicate his knowledge of the evi... ... middle of paper ... ...The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying against the abominable noise, something about a body on a hill... At once the crowed surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed struck, bit, tore.” (Golding 156).
When Jack first appears, he comes out of the “darkness of the forest'; and Ralph, the symbol of goodness, cannot see Jack’s face because his back is to the sun. Darkness can be another symbol of death. Also, blood is something that we often can relate with death, and Jack is obsessed with killing the pigs on the island and shedding their blood. The blood shows how Jack turns into a savage, since at first he is afraid of the blood but he eventually is thirsty for it and smears it all over his own body and those of his followers, showing how he was practically in love with the blood and death of the pig. The third part is how Jack relates to certain aspects of religion.
After he first kills a pig "His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away it's life like a long satis... ... middle of paper ... ...eat battle of wills between Ralph and Jack culminating in Jack and his tribe hunting down and smoking Ralph out of the forest, which ultimately led to their rescue. At this point, democracy in the shape of Ralph seemed to prevail over totalitarianism in the shape of Jack who faded into the shadows. Overall, Ralph and Jack were very different characters. Ralph began the book as a hopeful leader with high ideals and in the end was feeling hunted and squashed by dictatorship and anarchy. He was motivated by the hope of rescue and was more of a democratic leader.
All in all Golding tries to portray Simon as a Christ like figure. On the other hand, Golding tries to show the evil within man through Jack. Jack is a character in which he almost symbolizes cruel political leaders, such as Castro, Hussein, Hitler, etc. He is the leader of the hunters, the first time they find a pig, Jack stops, and couldn't kill the pig. That revealed how Jack was civilized, yet later on he would kill the pig without hesitation.
Another significant event was the death of Simon. Simon was killed when he came struggling out of the jungle trying to tell his fellows that the 'beast' they had feared was nothing to fear at all. The group though was in the middle of a "killing chant" and they had mistakenly identified Simon as the beast and beat him until he died. Again, this shows the savagery coming out of these boys. Piggy's death was equally significant because it serves as an example of how little power Ralph exert... ... middle of paper ... ... have been able to put up a better show than that" (201).