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What do the flowers in Simon's hideaway symbolize in Lord of the Flies?
Quick answer:
The flowers in Simon's hideaway symbolize purity, innocence, light, and knowledge. Simon, a Christ-like figure with deep understanding of the island's true nature, often retreats to this secluded area surrounded by candle-like flowers. When Jack slashes the flowers, it symbolizes his ignorance and malevolence toward civility and enlightenment. This act highlights the conflict between the forces of light and darkness represented by Simon and Jack, respectively.
In chapter 1, Jack, Ralph, and Simon are exploring the island, and Simon notices that the flowers resemble candles as they walk through the forest. "Candles" is a seven letter word that would fit into the crossword puzzle. After Simon mentions that the flowers look like candle buds, Jack takes his knife and slashes one of them. Jack also mentions that the flowers look like green candles and believes that they are useless because they cannot eat them. The candle buds throughout Simon's hideaway symbolically represent purity, innocence, light, and knowledge. Simon is a Christ-figure in the novel, who has supreme knowledge of the actual identity of the beast. Simon spends most his time in the secluded region in the forest, which is surrounded by flowers that resemble candles. When Jack destroys several flowers with his knife, it symbolically represents his ignorance, wicked nature, and malevolence towards civility, light, and knowledge.
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