Nobel laureate William Golding highlights the ideas of innocence and death in terms of human nature in his adventure fiction novel, Lord of the Flies. He displays these main ideas through the plot that he carries forward with a group of boys stranded on a deserted island, and their tedious path to survival. In Golding’s thought provoking novel, he uses the characterization of Simon to portray how too much innocence can lead to one's quick demise.
Simon’s innocence is continuously highlighted throughout the novel, and Golding shows how his characterization can reveal the unknowns of human nature. Innocence is at times associated with the traits of being hesitant, and overly optimistic in the most unlikely outcomes of situations. In this case, it's a group of boys stranded on an island, in the middle of nowhere. The likely odds of escaping are referred to on numerous occasions in the book. While other people stand with their beliefs of violence or savagery in the group of boys, Simon is rather hesitant at times shown in his interaction with Ralph, “‘Maybe,’ he said hesitantly, ‘maybe there is a beast.’ The assembly cried out savagely and Ralph stood up in amazement. ‘You, Simon? You believe in this?’ ‘I don’t know,’ said Simon. His heartbeats were choking him” (Golding 80). Simon was quite hesitant in his conversation with Ralph where he was told to pick a side of something he could not grasp the concept of so easily. This implies how Simon is stuck in this blackhole of hesitation bounded by his meticulous thinking, but clearly displaying his innocent personality. It can be seen throughout the novel that Simon can be swayed in favor of the popular opinion, which shows how innocent he is. His innocence of not being able to see the things behind his back, and not taking strong stands on controversial topics seen through his hesitance shows how his innocence will come to bite him in the back eventually. Despite what the majority of the characters believe about the chance of survival on the island, Simon stands out by hoping for the best in the most unlikely situation based on the current circumstances. In Simon’s conversation with Ralph on surviving on the island he manifests his optimism through his sense of hope, “Simon was speaking almost in his ear. Ralph found that he had a rock painfully gripped in both hands, found his body arched, the muscles of his neck stiff, his mouth strained open . . . Simon nodded. ‘All the same. You’ll get back all right. I think so, anyway’” (Golding, 110). Simon was overly optimistic when the odds were clearly not in his favor. This suggests how Simon contains this innocence deeply embedded in him, seen through his actions around his optimism. His innocence of not being able to realize how sometimes there's no chance elicits how he can fall as prey in the most dire situations because of his innocence. Simon’s innocence through hesitation and being overly optimistic shows how human nature of these traits may lead to future setbacks that could be potentially fatal.
Ultimately, Simon's innocence will lead to his rather quick demise as he is sucked up into this tsunami of evil that's unstoppable with his rising innocence. Sometimes it is not recognizable, but innocence can lead to one's end even when they believe they are on the right moral track of life, based on the characteristics they exhibit. In his conversation with the lord of the flies Simon shows he is self aware about his weaknesses, “‘You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why are things what they are?’” (Golding 206). Simon displays his natural tendencies of being self aware of his weaknesses but failing to address them which further show his innocence. In his inability to fix his flaws, Simon further stands as an example of innocence that will end up in a bad outcome. In the moments after Simon expired, it was highlighted how there were devils staring at him while his body washed up, “The water rose farther and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble. The strange attendant creatures, with their fiery eyes . . . Then it turned gently in the water”(Golding 221). This shows how Simon is falling to his own innocence which leads to his demise. It is implied that Golding’s usage of “fiery eyes” looking at Simon seem to be the evils that Simon put off due to his innocence, such as the evils of savagery or violence. This action within the limits of his personality, leads him to the open a vortex of death. Simon's innocence highlighted throughout the novel shows how his demise was up and coming in the near actions before his death.
Within the world of human nature, innocence is often referred to as a byproduct of children. However, some people take advantage of that innocence and ruin the lives of these children seen through institutions such as war. Seen in Golding’s novel Simon is an example of this, and it is important to learn from him not to be innocent by letting others take advantage of one. It is vital to make sure humanity’s most precious possession being children, do not fall at the hands of death just for being too innocent.
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York, Perigee, 1954
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