William Golding (1911-1993) shows the death of Simon in the novel to represent the boy’s degeneration from civilization to social breakdown. It is the final step in the revolution from the rules of society to savagery. It represents human struggle.
Jack and Ralph complete leadership on that coral Island. They argue about the value of meat and the importance of shelters. The boys perform their dance in order to enjoy a mock hunt as the rain stars.
More Notes: Lord of the Files
In that weather of enjoying, dancing, thunder, and lightning Simon come from the hilltop. Simon has just come down from the hilltop after his discovery that there was no beast on the hilltop but only the dead body of a parachutist.
Shouting that he is the beast, the boys flap upon Simon and start to tear him apart with their hands and teeth. Simon tries to explain what has happened and to remind them who he is. He plunges over the rocks onto the beach. The boys fall on him violently.
More Notes: Suggestions
Simon’s intention was to remove the fear of the beast from the boys. But ironically, he himself is taken to be the beast amid their dance and becomes the victim of their cruelty. Simon’s protest goes in vain. Finally, they killed him. Thus, the mock hunt of the boys shows the degeneration of the human heart under favorable circumstances. Under the leadership of Jack, the British boys have started behaving like the savage people of the ancient world. In this novel, Simon is compared with Jesus Christ, because of the parallel between the parachutist on the mountain and Christ on the hill at Calvary.
