In Chapter 5 of "Lord of the Flies", what is the dangerous idea that Simon has?
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robertwilliam
| Certified Educator

Simon's dangerous idea is that the boys themselves might be the true beast. He realises, but is too inarticulate to express, "mankind's essential illness": the fear and lack of spiritual power which creates an imaginary beast, and eventually, the need for violence, for a savage tribe, and for splitting up the civilisation into violent factions.
Simon has realised what Golding himself calls, in the last paragraphs of the novel, "the darkness of man's heart".