At the beginning of Chapter 10, Ralph tells Piggy that they murdered Simon. Piggy realizes that they savagely killed Simon, but attempts to repress the memory and not speak about it. Ralph takes responsibility for participating in Simon's murder, while Piggy begins to make excuses for their actions. Piggy mentions that they were scared, and Simon's death was an accident. Piggy tries to end the conversation by telling Ralph that it won't do any good by continuing to talk about it, but Ralph says that he's frightened. Ralph realizes the extent of savagery on the island and is appalled that he partook in Simon's murder. Ralph begins to fear for his own safety while Piggy attempts to forget about the whole ordeal. Both boys feel guilty; however, Ralph acknowledges his participation while Piggy denies his involvement.

Ralph is badly shaken by Simon's death whilst Piggy is in denial. Piggy is able to be of some comfort to Ralph at this time but only by playing down Simon's death and insisting that they had done nothing wrong.

Ralph views Simon's death in its most sinister form - murder, and the implications of that cause a near nervous breakdown, "I'm frightened. Of us. I want to go home. O God I want to go home" (p. 194). He manages to get past this point by submitting to Piggy's pleas that it was only an accident and they weren't directly involved.

Piggy would clearly have been just as happy to have never talked about Simon's death, but when pushed by Ralph he insists that it was only an accident. He is also determined to shift the blame; firstly it was because of "that bloody dance" (p. 193) and then he claimed Simon it was Simon's fault, "He deserved it. He was batty" (p. 194), and finally by implication it was those boys on the inside of the dance who were responsible.

Simon's death is the shocking climax to the novel, and we see the main characters (including Jack) react in diferent ways to the events of that evening.

In Lord of the Flies, compare and contrast the deaths of Simon and Piggy.

Simon is often considered a symbolic, Christlike character in the novel. He avoids conflict, tries to help others, retreats to solitude when tensions mount, and has seemingly spiritual revelations about the nature of mankind's propensity toward evil actions. When the group kills him, they seem to be overtaken by evil itself. They chant, lusting for blood, and either intentionally choose not to see Simon in that moment of murder or are so overtaken by their own evil desires that they are blinded to reality. They kill Simon, who is innocent of any evil on the island, because they see him as a "beast" in that moment.

Piggy's death is more personal. In Piggy's final moments, he still tries to persuade the group to see the irrationality of their actions and attempts to convince them that they should agree to rules instead of killing. As he passionately speaks, Roger watches him purposefully:

High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.

Roger, acting on behalf of the group, kills Piggy because of what he represents. Piggy isn't killed as a faceless "beast" but rather because they specifically target him, hating Piggy for who he is and for the ideas he supports.

The deaths are similar in that both boys are both murdered. They are also similar because the murders are ultimately orchestrated by Jack and his desire for the destruction of Ralph's ideals. Both deaths lead the boys further down a road of destruction, both physically and spiritually, and propel a growing sense of anarchy on the island.

In Lord of the Flies, compare and contrast the deaths of Simon and Piggy.

Both Simon and Piggy die brutal deaths at the hands of their peers, which underscore the boys' diminishing civility and emphasize their savage, primitive nature. Simon and Piggy's deaths are also symbolically significant. In the story, Simon is depicted as a Christ figure and his death symbolically represents the complete loss of innocence on the island. Similarly, Piggy's character symbolizes intelligence and rationality. His death represents the end of civilization and rational thought on the island. Both Simon and Piggy's bodies are also washed out to sea. However, Simon's body is peacefully carried out by the tide, while Piggy's corpse is violently swept away by the sea.

The circumstances surrounding Simon and Piggy's deaths are also different. After Simon discovered the rotting corpse on the top of the mountain, he traveled to the beach during a violent storm and was mistaken for the beast by the boys, who formed a circle around him and ruthlessly beat him to death. The boys were influenced by mob mentality, and each participated in his violent murder. In contrast, Piggy traveled to Castle Rock to retrieve his glasses, and Roger rolled a massive boulder towards him. Piggy was crushed to death by the boulder, and the conch shattered into a thousand pieces. Overall, Simon and Piggy's deaths were both brutal and symbolically significant. However, the circumstances surrounding their murders were much different.

In Lord of the Flies, compare and contrast the deaths of Simon and Piggy.

The deaths of both Simon and Piggy represent the death of reason and civilization on the island. Piggy, the eminently sensible and logical voice of reason, dies a brutal death at the hands of the savage and barbaric Roger. Simon's death is also brutal; in fact, even more so. He's set upon by the other boys, who mistake him for the mythical Beast. Though the boys genuinely thought they were killing the Beast and not Simon, they must still be held morally responsible for their actions.

The killing of Piggy is pure cold-blooded murder. Roger knew exactly what he was doing when he levered the boulder. He wanted Piggy dead, and this was the way he chose to kill him. Ironically, Roger used reason in calculating what would happen when the large rock tumbled off the cliff. This wasn't just a savage lashing out as happened with Simon; this was an act of cold, calculating deliberation.

In Lord of the Flies, compare and contrast the deaths of Simon and Piggy.

The biggest similarity between Simon's and Piggy’s deaths is that both bodies are washed out to sea. In addition, both deaths are symbolic, representing the ends of reason (Simon) and civilization (Piggy) among the boys. Besides these two similarities, I think these death scenes are very different.

Simon’s death is framed as an accident by Piggy. When he stumbles into the camp as the boys dance at night, Simon is mistaken for a beast. Even Ralph and Piggy participate in this murder, a fact that they struggle to accept.

In contrast, Piggy’s murder is deliberate. Roger presses the lever in broad daylight, in a moment when everyone witnesses Piggy’s death. This shows the escalating violence and evil within Jack’s tribe, which proceeds to hunt Ralph.

The significance of these differences is that they highlight the devolution of the boys’ humanity.

In Lord of the Flies, compare and contrast the deaths of Simon and Piggy.

Both Simon and Piggy died as a result of the chaos and savagery that overtook the boys on the island. Simon represented the mystic believer who understood things to a greater degree than the others did.  Piggy represented the intellect and common sense.  Both boys stood for the opposite of the evil that was taking over the boys and the island.  Simon died in chapter 9 when he ran into the circle of boys dancing in a frenzy around the fire.  In their mob mentality stirred by the dancing frenzy, the boys fell on Simon and killed him - calling him "the beast". Simon probably wouldn't have been killed if not for what the boys were doing at that moment.  Piggy was killed in chapter 11 while trying to talk sense into Jack and his henchmen. Piggy's death was deliberate but still occurred in a moment of madness.  Roger purposely leaned on the lever, dislodging the boulder that killed Piggy, but Roger had become fully savage at this point.  As Roger listened to Jack, Ralph and Piggy argue, "...Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever."  The savage beast within the boys took over the minds and the hearts of the boys and this resulted in the deaths of Simon and Piggy, as well as the deaths of mystic enlightenment and reason.

In Lord of the Flies, how are Simon's and Piggy's deaths foreshadowed?

In Lord of the Flies, the struggle to maintain order in the face of a ruthless and unrestrained instinct, most obvious in Jack and Roger, is almost too much for Ralph and Piggy to overcome. All of the boys are British schoolboys, stranded on an island with no "grown ups." Even Jack, at first, acknowledges that there are certain expectations of them all because "we're not savages..." (Ch 2), and with Ralph, whose father is a Navy commander, to lead them, they will have shelter and a signal fire.

However, Jack soon begins to forget about the rescue, as he becomes more in-tune with his surroundings. In chapter 3, he says, "Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first." Jack has an "opaque, mad look" in his eyes and it is apparently not the first time Ralph has noticed it. At this stage, the reader is increasingly sensing that all is not well and that Jack has a different agenda in organizing his "hunters."

Interestingly, Roger only really starts to emerge from chapter 4 which is significant because it is the chapter where Jack and his hunters paint their faces. Roger can begin to emerge. His presence scares the "littleuns" as he kicks over their sandcastles and scatters stones. He waits alone and furtive; watching some of the "littluns," already his "unsociable remoteness" is turning into "something forbidding." Roger is becoming all too relaxed in his new surroundings as "the taboo of the old life," which still restrains him, starts to lose its grip because on the island "civilization...was in ruins." He can throw stones in Henry's direction unnoticed and even Jack does not perceive the "darker shadow" that will eventually consume Roger. The reader becomes uneasy, beginning to realize that Roger is capable of far more than throwing stones and missing Henry. It doesn't take long for Jack to also begin transforming from a civilized school boy into an "awesome stranger," whose "laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling," also in chapter 4.  

Piggy and Simon are representative of the intellectual and spiritual sides of human nature. Without Piggy's sense of reason, the boys, and especially Ralph, would have been unable to maintain any kind of order. The breaking of Piggy's glasses is significant because not only does it affect Piggy but it represents the gradual breaking down of law. Piggy's death is foreshadowed through this slow, almost unnoticed, eroding of values: from Piggy feeling uneasy around Jack and playing with his glasses in the first chapter to Roger throwing the stones at Henry, to Jack's disregard for Piggy and the value of his glasses and finally Piggy clutching the conch moments before his death.

Simon's death is foreshadowed when, in chapter one, he and Ralph become a "happy, heaving pile in the under-dusk." Everything is still new and exciting and Ralph expresses himself by pushing Simon, a seemingly boyish, harmless prank. The boys cannot envision what will eventually happen. Jack's triumph at killing the sow and placing its head on a stick and Roger's disrespect and brutality also foreshadow the point when Simon, anxious to expose the beast for what it is, becomes the victim of the tribe's frenzied attack, epitomizing for them the beast itself. 

In Lord of the Flies, how are Simon's and Piggy's deaths foreshadowed?

Piggy's death is foreshadowed earlier in the novel during the scene in which Roger stands in the palms and throws rocks at the child building sand castles on the beach.  In this scene, Roger still feels enough of the pull of civilization on his life that he does not actually hit the child.  Each time the child turns to find who is throwing the rocks, Roger hides behind the trees.  Once Roger, Jack, and the others in Jack's "tribe" begin to paint their faces, Roger is "hidden" out in the open; he no longer needs the forest for protection.  Just as he throws the rocks on the beach, he later hurls a boulder down upon the innocent and naive Piggy.

When Simon tells Ralph that Ralph will get back to civilization, his language implies that he realizes he will not.  His death is foreshadowed in the intense scene in which Jack and the others in his tribe violently kill the sow.  Simon's murder occurs in exactly the same way, and he was just as innocent as the near-helpless animal.

In Lord of the Flies, how do Piggy's and Ralph's reactions to Simon's death differ?

Ralph reacts to Simon's death with candor, while Piggy tries to rationalize what has happened.

Having communicated with the Lord of the Flies, Simon felt that he must carry his news that the beast is within to the others as soon as possible. So, he came out of the clearing and down to the fire where the other boys were gathered. 

Just before Simon arrived, Roger mimicked the grunting and charging of the pig; the littluns ran excitedly around the perimeter, and Ralph and Piggy themselves became eager to have a place in this group. Roger left the circle to be the hunter, chanting with the others. As he did so "there was the throb and stamp of a singular organism." The boys did not see clearly and they envisioned 

...a beast [who] struggled forward, broke the ring...screamed something about a body...

These boys became a "struggling heap," and finally they broke up and moved away as blood stained the sand. They ran in terror as the wind caught the parachutist and they watched as his figure was thrown upon the sea. Later, the tide carried Simon's body out to sea.

The following day, Ralph is prepared to admit that he has been in that circle and has contributed to the death of the boy who came to warn them: "Piggy.... That was Simon." But Piggy is in denial:

"You stop it!" said Piggy shrilly. "What good're you doing talking like that? ... It was dark. There was that--that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared."

"I wasn't scared.... Don't you understand Piggy? The things we did--" 

"Look, Ralph. We got to forget this. We can't do no good thinking about is, see? ... It was an accident, and that's that."

Despite his insistence that what happened to Simon was an accident, Piggy acknowledges that they need to be rescued and "get out of this" lawless world in which they now live.

Ralph gives in and tell Piggy to try to forget the whole affair since they cannot do any good by thinking about it. But the air is heavy with the unspoken knowledge of what man is capable of, and they shake at the horror of what they have done.

Both boys realize what has become of them and their reasoning and gentler natures. They are desperate to be successful in their attempts at flight.

In Lord of the Flies, how do Piggy's and Ralph's reactions to Simon's death differ?

Ralph immediately states the fact that it was murder. He is solemn while he speaks with Piggie. He knows what he and the other boys did was wrong, but he admits that he wasn’t scared during the attack on Simon. Ralph is somewhat inarticulate as he tries to explain to Piggy what happened in the circle. He doesn’t know how to explain the sadistic emotions that overcame the group of boys. He tells Piggy that "He is afraid. Of us," meaning that he realizes they have crossed the line, and that soon, the evil in each of them will take over. Ralph is also scared that he has lost control of the group and that Jack, who is blood-thirsty, has taken over.

Piggie, on the other hand, doesn’t want to believe what happened was intentional. He keeps telling Ralph that it was an accident, that it was dark and they were scared. Piggy is so afraid to admit that the boys have become savages that he even blames what happened on Simon: “Coming in the dark—he hadn’t no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it” (Golding, Ch. 10). Piggy is afraid to believe that the boys are capable of such a horrific act because he knows that Jack hates him and he may be next.

How is Piggy's death different from the others in Lord of the Flies?

Piggy's death is different from the others because it is the first one that is the result of a completely intentional act.  The other two deaths did not involve the same clear evidence of "malice aforethought".

The little 'un with the mark on his face was the first to die.  His death was completely accidental; he was the victim of the fire that went out of control, and his demise was actually only assumed by the fact that the boys later could not find him.  The little 'un's death occurred soon after the boys arrived on the island, before they had had a chance to take count of how many of them had actually survived the plane crash.  No one had even known his name, and he was remembered by Piggy only because of the disfigurement on his face.

Simon, the second boy to die, was killed by mistake.  Caught up in acting out a ritualistic reenactment of killing a pig, the boys, in their frenzy, killed Simon without realizing it was him.  Although Simon's murder was more sinister than the little 'un's in that it was the direct result of the growing savagery of the boys, it was still unintentional.

Piggy was killed on purpose. Standing on a ledge above him while Piggy was trying to reason with the tribe, Roger, scornful of his words, dropped a huge boulder "with a sense of delirious abandonment" on Piggy, killing him (Chapter 11).