Simon

Simon is very different from the other boys, both in mannerisms, and physical ability. His frailty and uncommon kindness put him on a different level than the civility and savagery of Ralph and Jack. His saintlike image is evidenced by his concern for the littluns (a trait not seen in any other boy), and through a series of Christ-like qualities. Simon is the only person in the novel to actively seek out the beast to prove it is not a physical being, but rather an unintentional darkness that resides within everyone. In Chapter 8, Simon hallucinates the “Lord of the Flies,” who declares himself as the beast, whom he cannot escape. Simon faints, and when he wakes he goes to the Mountain. When he returns to tell the boys that the beast is actually a dead parachuter, he is brutally murdered, and his corpse floats out to sea. His corpse floating on top of the water is one of many Christ-like qualities that reflect his unusual intelligence. Simon is good with children, has an affinity for nature, and seeks to redeem the other boys of the growing darkness that plagues them all. Like Christ, Simon dies trying to save the boys from themselves. In allegories, he is often seen as the innately-good or spiritual portion of the story.