Simon/Lord of the Flies

1. Was Simon hallucinating? Yes

2. Was Simon epileptic? Yes . In the novel, Golding writes, "one of his times was coming on" (206). His meaning Simon's, and times meaning one of his epileptic seizures.

2.1. What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is a neurological disorder in which there are recurrences of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions. These recurrences are associated with the electrical activity of the brain.

3. What does Simon's character and his conversation with the Lord of the Flies symbolize? Simon is a symbol of Christ in this novel. Simon has his conversation with the Lord of the Flies, which symbolizes the devil. In this quote, "At last Simon gave up and looked back; saw the white teeth and dim eyes, the blood- (193), we see clearly that Golding is meaning for Simon to be a Christ figure and the Lord of the Flies, the devil. So, this conversation is symbolizing Christ's confrontation with Satan during his 40 days in the wilderness.

4. What does Simon’s experience say about the characters, the novel, and civilization? Simon's experience shows that he is the most civilized and pure of all the boys. The other boys were terrified of the "beast" which Simon knew was within the boys all along. Simon understood much more than any of the other boys could have. From Simon's conversation, we see that even though there are good people in this world, others will not listen to the good people. The people who want to rebel will rebel and be evil, and the good people cannot stop them.

5. What happens to Simon at the end of chapter 8? At the end of chapter 8, Simon hears the Lord of the Flies (a pig head on a stick) speak to him. One thing the Lord of the Flies says to Simon is,“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! . . . You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? (pg. 143)