Though Simon is one of the main characters in this novel,
we know very little about his background. We meet him for the first time in chapter 1
when the choir trudges its weary way across the sand to the sound of the conch. "[O]ne
of the boys flopped on his face in the sand...." That was Simon. The reaction by his
fellow choristers is minimal; they simply "heaved the fallen boy onto the platform and
let him lie." We know from this his fainting was not particularly
uncommon.
Their leader, Jack, tells them to leave him
alone. The boys do mutter a protest or two, but Jack reminds
them:
"'He's
always throwing a faint....He did in Gib,; and Addis; and at matins [prayers] over the
precentor."
The rest of the
choir reacts by sniggering, so clearly they may like him but aren't averse to making him
the butt of a joke. Once he recovers, he sheepishly laughs and--though he is one of the
smallest "big" boys on the island--is the first to volunteer to join Ralph on his
exploration of the island.
Simon faints once more, when he
meets the Lord of the Flies and has a vision where he realizes what he has hinted at all
along-- the Beast is them. Ironically, it is this news which gets him killed once he
recovers from his faint and locates the boys in the
circle.
This is a symbolic novel, and Simon represents the
emotional/mystical/spiritual/intuitive component of who we are. He is also often seen
as a kind of Christ figure. Simon demonstrates this more sensitive side consistently as
he pauses to pick fruit for the children, reassures Ralph that he will make it home, and
feels the need for solitude as he sneaks away to his hiding place with the candlebuds
and butterflies.
Simon's past has obviously shaped who he
is today--we just don't have many clues as to what those events and experiences were. I
wish I had more to offer; however, it's clear that what Simon is and does on the island
is much more significant than what happened to him before he
arrived.
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