In the movie Simon Birch, we learn many aspects from the main character relating to our SPIES unit. The Main character Simon Birch was born the smallest baby of Grapeville in recorded history. When he was born, the doctors believed Simon would only be alive for days or a weeks at maximum, because of a undersized heart. Mr and Mrs. Birch didn’t care for Simon and carried on in their normal daily lives. Believing their son would pass away. Years went by and Simon was healthy, but still the smallest kid in Grapeville at 12 years old. Simon is best friends with a boy named Joseph, and Joseph's mother, Ms. Wenteworth, cared for Simon as is he was her own. Sadly Ms. Wenteworth was killed by a flying baseball hit by Simon. With Joseph and Simon no
For example, Simon is a character with many Christ figure qualities. Simon proves he is good with children when he assists the younger children by grabbing hard to reach fruit for them. Also, Simon is empathetic toward Ralph and reassures him that he will get off the island. Not only does Simon display Christ-like characteristics, but he also has many interactions that can be seen as biblical allusions. For example, Simon is tempted by the Lord of the Flies in the jungle, just like when Jesus was tempted by Satan when he goes into the desert for forty days. Simon and Jesus also have similar deaths. Both are killed unjustly since Jesus was killed for his beliefs and Simon was killed because the boys became
When the Lord of the Flies said to Simon, “fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!” (Golding. pg.158), it showed that even if Simon did not know it, he subconsciously understood that the beast was not real, but something within all of them. This also shows that no matter how hard the boys try to stay good, the evil within them is something they cannot get rid of. Additionally, the end of the conversation Simon had with the Lord of the Flies also represents evil. At the end of the conversation, when Simon, “fell down and lost consciousness,” (Golding. Pg. 158), helps the readers know that the conversation is not real. Simon fainting after the conversation also showed that instead of talking to the Lord of the Flies, or the beast, he was thinking to himself about the evil on the island and realized it was within the boys. Similarly, this also shows the fact that he subconsciously knew of the evil within the boys. Finally, Simon 's hallucination represents the realization he had of the evil within the
Humans are though to be the most developed living species on the planet Earth. However, throughout life, one can also see humans can be so evil and illogical during moments of desperation that the ability of reason is cannot be found. In the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Golding depicts many examples of human nature with the use of characters he placed in the story. One of these characters is a boy named Simon. Golding uses Simon to describe compassion, wisdom and insight, and a Christ-like figure.
First of all, Simon 's tender-hearted nature is one of the characteristics that links him to Jesus Christ. He shows this attribute in the book through compassion and appreciation to everything. At one point in the book, Simon is exploring in the jungle when some littluns who were following him motion toward some fruit in some trees that they couldn 't quite reach. "Simon found for them the fruit that they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands." (56) Some boys in the book found the littuns annoying and not as important. However, Simon was compassionate towards them. He took his time to help them get the fruit that they couldn 't reach because he cared for them. When the first pig of many is hunted, killed, cooked, and eaten, the boys rejoice because of the large amounts of meat and
Simon was the first to realize there was no actual beast on the island, and that it was only a dead man with a parachute. He believed there was no such thing as a beast on the island, and he helped the littluns believe it too by saying: "What I mean is... Maybe it 's only us." (89). Simon was trying to suggest the idea that the beast was only an illusion to the boys’, as it had been created only within their imaginations. This shows that the boys are only afraid of themselves, because they are their own worst enemy. He is the first to figure out that the beast is not an actual beast, and how it is only the boys becoming savage, and starting to be afraid of one another. As Simon began to explain this to the doubtful boys, he was the only one who died knowing the
Christ is a perfect figure of light and goodness. He showed the world what love could do during his ministry on earth. Simon’s characteristics make him an analogy to Christ. His love, compassion, and service to others portray him as a Christ figure in Lord of the Flies, as well as his similarities in his experiences.
“There is a plan and a purpose, a value to every life,no matter what location, age, gender or disability.”~ Sharron Angle
Now, the lord of the flies is the most complicated symbol in the whole novel. It is used to build up the themes of fear and evil. When the lord of the flies is first introduced to the readers of the novel, it says to Simon “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast” (Golding, 158). When the lord of the flies said this, Simon’s reply demonstrated that he was
The beast is first introduced to the boys early on in their time on the island when the crash acts as a scar to the boys and there is still a state of innocence in everyone. Piggy illustrates the boy with the mulberry-colored birthmark fears to the others (as he is too shy to speak on his own) his discovery of something else existing on the island to the entire assembly, “Tell us about the snake-thing...Now he says it was a beastie...Beastie?...A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it ... In the woods … He says the beastie came in the dark ... He still says he saw the beastie. It came to him and went away again an’ came back and wanted to eat him-- ...He must have had a nightmare” (35-36). Considering how innocent and civilized the boys are at
In the chapter titled “Gift for the Darkness” Simon hears the sound of the flies buzzing around the Lord of the Flies. The buzzing sound is what causes Simon to have hallucinations. These hallucinations leads to Simon hearing the Lord of the Flies talking to him. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that evil is within all the boys. The quote “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head.” (Golding 164) expresses that the Lord of the Flies is divulging to Simon that the evil is not something that can be hunted or killed but is within the boys. Simon also learns that the beast of evilness was in the boys all along. The theme Inherent Evil of Man is displayed through Simon learning that evil is within the boys and that this was the beast. This shows how the evil action appears as a beast and the understanding of evilness by
Through vivid imagery in chapter 9, Golding paints a scene that uses Simon's death to patently resemble the crucifixion of Christ. The boys on the island are now in dire need of a Christ like character to guide them. To be a “Christ figure” a character must attain and exemplify the traits and values possessed by the Biblical Christ. Although Simon portrays qualities that a Christ figure needs to succeed, he completely fails as evident in his brutal but ineffective crucifixion and his fruitless attempt at martyrdom.
How to Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster is a guide to the aspiring advanced literature reader on how to analyze and understand works of literature through the eyes of an individual trained in the specialty. It aims to provide different techniques of delving in to literature in attempt to find deeper meaning within the book. After reading this book, the reader should be able to read a novel and find topics discussed in the book, and then using their knowledge find hidden meanings that add to the underlying theme of the book. In the context of the Lord of the Flies, there are many instances where the ideas discussed in Foster’s book can be found in the novel. The weather, baptism and a Christ Figure are all themes described
In Jake Wallis article, “Why Lord of the Flies speaks volumes about boys”(2014), argues that Lord of the Flies is not about human nature, it’s only about how boys act. He supports his claim by saying “it could be more accurately be said to be about the male human condition.”Simons’s purpose is to tell the readers that the Lord of the Flies doesn’t talk about all human nature, it only talks about boys human nature. He creates a direct tone for everyone who reads the book.
Throughout the novel of Lord of the Flies, William Golding provides a profound insight into human nature. Golding builds on a message that all human beings have natural evil inside them. To emphasize, the innate evil is revealed when there’s lack of civilization. The boys are constantly faced with numerous fears and eventually break up into two different groups. Although the boys believe the beast lives in the jungle, Golding makes it clear that it lurks in their hearts. The message of inner evil is portrayed throughout the book by the destruction of the conch, terrifying beast, and character developments to establish the hidden message throughout the novel.