Katie Campbell

Mr. Morrow
AP Literature and Composition
9/7/15
Hidden Identities
Its difficult to understand the personality and character of a person because every person
has their own mystery. Like an onion, you have to peel back a layer at a time to discover the real
identity a person tends to hide. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Simon is portrayed as a
shy and quiet boy who is strange and batty; in reality, Simon is the selfless one in the group
of boys; he is the only one that understands the beastie is an imaginary thing that represents the
inherent evil found within each human being; and he is the symbol of the little bit of goodness
left that can be found on the island based on his belief in the inherent value in morality.
In the beginning of the novel, it is clear that Simon is a mystery waiting to be solved; all
we know about him is that hes the choir boy who fainted in the sand when all the boys first meet
each other. As we get further into the novel we learn a little more about Simon, but he is mostly
portrayed as a shy boy who has his own way of voicing his own opinion: Ralph turned to the
shelter and lifted a branch with a whole tiling of leaves. The leaves came apart and fluttered
down. Simons contrite face appeared in the hole. Sorry....Simon poked his head out carefully.
Youre chief. You tell em off. (Golding 50-51). This is the beginning of where the mystery of
Simon begins to unravel, and along the way we see how the personality and character of Simon
develops as well.
Simon is the only one who acts the most selfless on the island. When he sees one of the
others in need, he willingly helps them and gives them what they want because of his morality:

Ralph stirred uneasily. Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved
his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it (74). Even though he knew he could
get reprimanded for giving Piggy meat, he still gave him his meat because he knew it was the
right thing to do. While on the island, Simon also becomes willing to perform tasks that the other
boys dont want to do or see pointless as doing. Someones got to go across the island and tell
Piggy well be back after dark. Bill spoke, unbelieving. Through the forest by himself? Now?
We cant spare more than one.Simon pushed his way to Ralphs elbow. Ill go if you like. I
dont mind, honestly. Before Ralph had time to reply, he smiled quickly, turned, and climbed
into the forest (117). Through these selfless acts, not only is he giving a kindness to the other
boys on the island, but he also realizes that the only way to keep a little morality with them is to
perform these selfless acts of kindness.
While Simon is the only one who understands that the beastie is just an imaginary
representation of savagery, he entertains the idea that it is a real animal out to hurt them: They
talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if -- As if it wasnt a good island.
Astonished at the interruption, they looked up at Simons serious face. As if, said Simon, the
beastie, the beastie or the snake-thing was real. Remember? The two older boys flinched when
they heard the shameful syllable. Snakes were not mentioned now, were not mentionable (52).
Simon is the first of the boys to acknowledge that the island is not as good as they once thought
it was, and as a result, the other boys quickly dismiss this thought in fear of it being true. Later,
we see that Simons connection with the Lord of the Flies is really him talking to the hidden
savagery that is found in every human being. This savagery is the inherent evil that is found in all
human beings, even if it seems we do not possess. it. Fancy thinking the Beast was something
you could hunt and kill! said the head You knew, didnt you? Im part of you? Close, close,

close! Im the reason why its no go? Why things are what they are? (143). Sadly, when Simon
tries to warn the others of his discovery and what it means, he is mistaken for the beast, and he is
killed by the other boys. His death symbolizes the scarcity of the goodness left in the island
among the abundance of evil present within the rest of the boys.
The little bit of goodness left on the island is symbolized through Simons character.
Simon is always committing acts of kindness around the island because he believes in the
inherent value of morality that barely exists on the island: Here the littluns who had run after
him caught up with him. They talked, cried out unintelligently, lugged him toward the trees.
Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they could
not reach, pulled off the choices from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless,
outstretched hands (56). Simon is kind to the littluns, not out of guilt or shame, but because he
is hanging on to the last bit of normalcy that the boys have: their civility. While Simon tries to
hang on to his civility, the others quickly abandon their civility and turn to their savage side that
is hidden deep within them, and this results in quick tempers and no order. ...Jack smacked
Piggys head. Piggys glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror: My
specs! He went crouching and feeling over the rocks but Simon, who got there first, found them
for him. Passions beat about Simon on the mountaintop with awful wings. One sides broken.
(71). The other boys are slowly losing themselves to the savagery within them and the island, but
Simon is still hanging on to the last bit of goodness left on the island by keeping his morality.
After learning about the selflessness, morality, and rationality of Simon, we begin to have
insight on the mystery of Simon. While theres still a lot we could learn about him, we see that
hes not only the shy and quiet boy hes portrayed to be; hes also the boy who performs selfless
acts, realizes what the beastie really represents, and still has his own belief in morality. Even

through all the hardships and trials the boys go through, Simons character stands out among
them all by being the last piece of normalcy the boys have by keeping his morality. This
morality, which is scarce on the island already, is what shows us how Simon is the symbol of
goodness among the boys through the hidden evil that is inside every person.

Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies.New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print.