Lord of the Flies Character Study: Simon
The heart stopping novel, The Lord of the Flies, is a tale of English school boys who crash land on a deserted island. As readers follow the boys through their adventure, they can see the workings of society on a smaller scale. While the boys try to build a makeshift civilization readers see the boys fight and give into their basic survival instincts. These instincts either bring out the very best or worst of each child. One of the boys on the island includes a tall, lanky boy named Simon. Through Simon’s tragic journey we can see how the island brought out his extremely introverted and insane nature.
In the novel, readers witness Simon’s transition into simple shyness to avoidance of most human contact. His lack of social confidence may have even led to young Simon’s doom. Readers see that Simon’s transformation began when he started venturing into the dangerous and dark forest. Instead of being within the safety of a human community he prefers to be by himself. His introverted characteristic also takes a turn for the worst at one of the council meetings. Simon goes out on a ledge and decides to take the conch shell so he can speak. He begins to tell the boys that there may be a beast on the island, but not in the form they expect. Being social inept hinders Simon’s speech. When Simon loses his articulation he is laughed and snickered at. This social embarrassment was extremely hazardous for his social confidence. Without any allies on the island Simon keeps wandering into the forest and even pursues the dead body up on the mountain alone. Maybe if Simon had better timing and was more articulate he could have even relayed his message to the bloodthirsty boys without dying. Perhaps they would have noticed it was Simon and not the Beast. If Simon could have spoken up and became more of a leader, would savagery still have infected the island?
Not only does Simon become exceedingly introverted, but he becomes paranoid and insane. The reader is not even
In the novel, readers witness Simon’s transition into simple shyness to avoidance of most human contact. His lack of social confidence may have even led to young Simon’s doom. Readers see that Simon’s transformation began when he started venturing into the dangerous and dark forest. Instead of being within the safety of a human community he prefers to be by himself. His introverted characteristic also takes a turn for the worst at one of the council meetings. Simon goes out on a ledge and decides to take the conch shell so he can speak. He begins to tell the boys that there may be a beast on the island, but not in the form they expect. Being social inept hinders Simon’s speech. When Simon loses his articulation he is laughed and snickered at. This social embarrassment was extremely hazardous for his social confidence. Without any allies on the island Simon keeps wandering into the forest and even pursues the dead body up on the mountain alone. Maybe if Simon had better timing and was more articulate he could have even relayed his message to the bloodthirsty boys without dying. Perhaps they would have noticed it was Simon and not the Beast. If Simon could have spoken up and became more of a leader, would savagery still have infected the island?
Not only does Simon become exceedingly introverted, but he becomes paranoid and insane. The reader is not even