Lord of the Flies Group

Question:

jkinger101
jkinger101
Student
High School - 10th Grade

To what extent does Simon amplify the following theme in "Lord of the Flies":

"Humans cherish their fears and will destroy anyone who seeks to relieve them of their burden by telling the truth"?

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Posted by jkinger101 on Sunday May 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM and tagged with simon, theme.

Answers:


  1. ms-mcgregor Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Simon always questions and seems to want to desire "the truth". He even builds his own shelter to get away from "the mob" of boys and to be able to think for himself. However, his first words that contradict the common view of the "beastie" are rejected. He says, "Maybe the beast is us". That comment is quickly ignored while the other boys focus on finding an actual "beast". When Simon actually discovers that "the beast" is a dead parachutist and no threat to the group, he immediately runs down the hill to tell the rest of the boys the truth. In his haste, however, he does not realize the boys are in a frenzied state and not in any condition to recognize the truth. Instead, the boys kill Simon, thinking Simon is "the beast. No one, not even Ralph, tries to stop the boys from killing Simon, and therefore extinguishing the truth.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/

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    Posted by ms-mcgregor on Monday May 25, 2009 at 12:37 PM