Character study of Simon

Consider: His first appearance in Ch 1 Others’ opinions of him His behaviour and attitude to others His spiritual side Attitude to the ‘beast’ How he is like the dead parachutist

Chapter 1 Biblical connotations of his name (one of Jesus’ disciples) Throws a fit – Jack says ‘he’s always throwing a faint’: epileptic or touched by God? Intense, quiet, thoughtful But what he says is important Shy at speaking in assemblies

Other’s opinion of him Even Ralph and Piggy see him as ‘batty’ and ‘barmy’ (Christ was also seen like this by many)

Simon’s attitude to others Generous e.g. gives food to Piggy and doesn’t fear Jack’s scorn Feeds the little’uns (like Christ feeding the 5000) Helps Ralph build shelters

Spiritual side Has a secret place where he can contemplate beauty of nature, which could be compared to Christ’s time in the wilderness He’s like a prophet, telling Ralph ‘you’ll get home’ He sees the evil within i.e. ‘mankind’s essential illness’ Butterfly symbolism – butterflies and Simon are both short-lived

Attitude to Beast Learns the truth about the ‘beast’ when he climbs the mountain – courage to confront the ‘beast’ Ch 9 – tries to tell others that it isn’t a ‘beast’ – he’s murdered e.g. ‘tearing of teeth and claws’ – killed like Christ as no one wanted to hear his message, so he dies trying to spread the truth