Lord of the Flies Group

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lillyarntson
lillyarntson
Student
High School - 9th Grade

In chapter 5 of "The Lord of the Flies", what is Simon trying to say at the meeting?

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Posted by lillyarntson on Sunday November 23, 2008 at 6:24 PM and tagged with chapter 5, character, details, lord of the flies, meeting, simon, summary.

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  1. ladyvols1 Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In the fifth chapter of "The Lord of The Flies," "they begin to argue and Ralph quiets them by unexpectedly blowing the conch again. This time Simon speaks, even though he is terrified of doing so in front of the assembly. Unfortunately, “Simon became inarticulate in his efforts to express mankind’s essential illness.”(pg. 102) He attempts to explain by asking what they believe is the dirtiest thing of all. His effort results in a crudely anonymous response, a one-syllable word referring to a bowel movement, and his point is not made."  Simon is trying to say that the "beast" is really within the boys themselves.  That man's nature is to be animalistic.  However, he gets so flustered he can't get his point across and it ends with the boys laughing at him.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-5-summary-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/characters

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    Posted by ladyvols1 on Sunday November 23, 2008 at 8:22 PM