The parachutist lands on the mountain at night. He frees the body. On top of that, simon — only Simon — climbs up and finds the truth: a dead man, rotting, caught in the lines. Think about it: the boys mistake him for the beast. He staggers down to tell the others.
They kill him anyway And that's really what it comes down to..
That's the short version. But if you've read Lord of the Flies, you know the short version isn't the point. The point is everything Golding packs into that scene: the storm, the chant, the circle, the way language collapses into noise. Simon's death isn't just a plot turn. It's the moment the novel stops being about boys on an island and starts being about what human beings are.
Let's talk about it.
What Is Simon's Death in Lord of the Flies
Simon dies in Chapter 9, "A View to a Death.On top of that, " He's just come down from the mountain where he discovered the "beast" is actually a dead parachutist. Think about it: he's dehydrated, exhausted, maybe hallucinating from heat and epilepsy (the "fit" he mentions earlier). He crawls out of the jungle into the middle of a ritual dance Worth keeping that in mind..
The boys — all of them, even Ralph and Piggy — are caught up in a frenzy. They've just killed a pig. They're reenacting the hunt. That's why "Kill the beast! In practice, cut his throat! Spill his blood!On top of that, " The chant takes over. Simon stumbles into the circle, trying to speak, trying to tell them the truth Small thing, real impact..
They tear him apart.
No weapons. Just hands and teeth and the weight of numbers. Because of that, the storm breaks overhead. Lightning. Which means thunder. The tide carries his body out to sea, surrounded by glowing creatures, almost gentle — a sharp, awful contrast to how he died.
It's not an accident
People sometimes call it a mistake. A mob getting carried away. The storm provides cover and chaos. In real terms, the dance provides ritual cover. The chant provides psychological cover — they're not killing a boy, they're killing the beast. But Golding doesn't write accidents. The scene is engineered. Language does the work before the violence starts Simple as that..
And Simon? He's been coded as different from page one. Worth adding: the fainting. The solitude. Practically speaking, the way he sees things others don't. The conversation with the Lord of the Flies in the previous chapter — a hallucination, sure, but one that tells him exactly what he's walking into: "You know perfectly well you'll only meet me down there — so don't try to escape.
The official docs gloss over this. That's a mistake.
He goes down anyway Worth knowing..
Why It Matters
Simon is the only character who understands the beast isn't external. He says it in Chapter 5: "Maybe there is a beast... And maybe it's only us. " No one listens. They can't. The beast has to be out there — something to hunt, something to fear, something to unite against. If the beast is inside, the whole structure of their society collapses And that's really what it comes down to..
His death proves him right.
The boys don't kill him because they're evil. They kill him because they're afraid. Fear makes people stupid. So fear makes people cruel. Fear makes a group of children tear apart the one person trying to save them And that's really what it comes down to..
The civilized boys participate too
This is the part that hurts. Ralph and Piggy are there. Practically speaking, they don't lead the chant, but they don't stop it either. They're caught in the "thick, urgent" rhythm of the dance. Which means later, Piggy calls it an accident. Ralph calls it murder. Both are true. Both are lies they tell themselves to keep functioning And that's really what it comes down to..
Golding's point: civilization isn't a shield. It's a thin layer. Scratch it — add hunger, fear, darkness, a chant — and what's underneath looks a lot like savagery.
How It Happens: The Scene Breakdown
The chapter builds in layers. Let's walk through it.
The buildup: Simon on the mountain
Simon wakes from his seizure. The parachutist is still there. He climbs the rock, sees the face — "the face of a dead man" — and understands. He struggles with the lines, frees the body, watches it slide down the mountain. Then he turns toward the fire, toward the others, toward the truth The details matter here..
He's weak. He vomits. He stumbles. The physical cost of knowledge is real.
The feast: Jack's power play
Meanwhile, Jack has staged a feast. Meat. Worth adding: power. On top of that, he asks, "Who'll join my tribe? Consider this: " Ralph tries to counter with the conch, with rules, with the signal fire. But meat wins. So the boys eat. The storm gathers. Jack orders the dance.
The dance: ritual as weapon
"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"
It starts as a game. But they circle. Roger pretends to be the pig. They chant. The individual dissolves into the group. Day to day, psychologists call this deindividuation — loss of self-awareness in a crowd. Golding didn't need the term. The rhythm takes over. He showed it.
The arrival: Simon breaks the circle
He crawls from the forest. Think about it: "Something about a body on the hill. The chant shifts — "Kill the beast!In practice, " The words don't matter. The circle sees a shape. " — and the circle closes.
The killing: no glory, no slow motion
Golding writes it fast. The storm breaks. Because of that, rain washes blood. "There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws." That's it. Think about it: just animal violence. No speeches. No heroic last stand. Wind howls.
The aftermath: nature's indifference
The tide comes in. Day to day, the stars come out. In practice, the universe doesn't care. That said, bioluminescent creatures surround Simon's body — "a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures. " The sea takes him gently. That's the final blow Simple, but easy to overlook..
The Symbolism: What Simon Represents
You'll hear a lot of theories. Still, simon isn't a symbol walking around. Think about it: all true enough, but they can flatten the character. Which means prophet. Here's the thing — christ figure. Worth adding: saint. Also, mystic. He's a boy who sees things clearly — and that clarity isolates him.
The epilepsy / fainting spells
Golding gives Simon a medical condition. " But it also gives him access to altered states — the Lord of the Flies scene happens during a seizure. Here's the thing — it marked him as "other. In 1954, epilepsy carried stigma. His body betrays him, but his mind reaches truth Took long enough..
The solitude
Simon has a secret place in the jungle. He goes there to think. Here's the thing — he helps the littluns get fruit. Because of that, he works on shelters when others play. He's good — not performatively, not for credit. Just... good. And the novel punishes him for it The details matter here..
The Lord of the Flies conversation
This is the key. The pig's head on a stick speaks to him (in his head). "Fancy thinking the Beast was
thing" — the pig’s head retorts — "thought so too. Look at Ralph! Look at me! And yet here you are, standing on the edge of the forest, the very borders of the darkness we’ve made.In real terms, " The dialogue is brutal, not because it’s loud, but because it’s true. Consider this: the beast isn’t a monster in the dark; it’s the darkness in each of them. Now, simon’s confrontation with the Lord of the Flies isn’t a hallucination — it’s a mirror. He’s the only one who sees it, and that’s why they kill him That's the whole idea..
The Truth: A Body on the Hill
When Simon descends from the mountain, he carries the weight of this truth. He wants to speak, to warn the others — to tell them the beast is a reflection, not a creature. But the tribe, frenzied by fear and the primal rhythm of the hunt, mistakes him for the beast itself. His body, already weakened by the mountain’s trials, is no match for their collective rage. They tear him apart not with malice, but with the blind certainty of a group that has forgotten how to think. Golding doesn’t linger on the gore; he lingers on the silence. No one even notices the act until the storm breaks, as if the world itself recoils at the violence.
The Sea’s Embrace
Simon’s body floats into the ocean, his limbs tangled in the bioluminescent glow of the sea. The creatures that surround him are not mourners — they are indifferent, curious, alive. The sea, which once seemed a source of hope (the signal fire, the promise of rescue), now becomes a graveyard. It swallows him without judgment, as it has swallowed countless others before. The stars above blink on, indifferent to the boy’s fate. This is the novel’s ultimate statement: the universe does not care about morality, about innocence, about the fragile line between civilization and savagery.
The Legacy of the Beast
The tribe, now fully consumed by Jack’s tyranny, continues their descent. They paint their faces, chant their chants, and hunt not for food but for the thrill of dominance. The conch, once a symbol of order, lies shattered on the beach. The signal fire, once a beacon of hope, is extinguished. But the beast — the true beast — remains. It is not in the jungle, but in the hearts of the boys, festering in their fear, their envy, their hunger for power.
The Conclusion: The Darkness Within
Lord of the Flies is not just a story about boys on an island. It is a parable about human nature — the fragility of civilization, the seduction of violence, and the cost of truth. Simon’s death is the climax of this truth. He is the first to see the beast, and the first to be destroyed by it. His solitude, his kindness, his epilepsy — all are markers of a soul too aware for its own good. The novel ends with the arrival of a naval officer, who mistakes the boys’ savagery for a game. He offers rescue, but the irony is bitter: the world beyond the island is no safer, no more civilized. The beast lives on, in every act of cruelty, every moment of indifference.
Simon’s story is a warning. To see the truth is to risk everything. Because of that, to speak it is to be silenced. And in the end, the only thing that remains is the darkness — not in the world, but in ourselves.
