Part 1: Discuss the following statement made by Simon in Lord of the Flies: “‘Maybe,’ he said hesitantly, ‘maybe there is a beast’......What I mean is...maybe it’s only us’”// Joash and Ruan Yang

Part 1 of 3


William Golding; Congrats on scrolling down! Here's a little reward from the authors

Simon, the author behind this quote, is no beast hunter. On the contrary, he is a character in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies; a “small, skinny boy”(70) , who was “always about” (69), with “eyes so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked” (70). Golding also depicts him to be an immensely altruistic, even Christ-like character; he picks fruit for the younger boys (71) and offers aid to the often scorned Piggy (89), though he is, rather ironically, the first to (arguably) reach a morbid death (188). In the light of these, Simon is most plausibly Golding’s allegorical plaything, through which he adds depth and philosophical spice to an island of half-naked savages. Therefore, Simon’s actions and speech deserve deep investigation and the squabbling over by men with extravagant facial hair; speaking of which (arguments, not facial hair), one of the significantly controversial quotes include the quote in question. When the topic of an supposed “beast” and its whereabouts are raised, Simon suggests that the beast is within, rather than without the boys, much to the ridicule and hatred of said boys. Through the literary aptness, I believe that this quote voices Goldings opinion on evil; that for which, man has innate tendencies. Thus in this essay I shall discuss such the implications of this concept, its possible origins, and my opinion on this statement.

However, to ensure that we are not investing hours into the ramblings of a child to a fly-infested swine, it is of obvious importance that this subject of man’s innate will to sin (which I shall refer to as “sin-lust” in the name of brevity for this essay) is proven to be one which Golding wishes to establish through this quote. Without a shadow of doubt, there is no better source in such a case other than the author himself, thus I have gathered quotes from ‘Fable’, an essay written by William Golding which is evidently suggestive of a belief in sin-lust:

Quotes from ‘Fable’: (references made to the ‘Lord of the Flies, Educational Edition’)

• “Before the second world war I believed in the perfectibility of social man; that a correct structure of society would produce goodwill; and that therefore you could remove all social ills by a reorganisation of society…… but after the war I did not because I was unable to.” (251)

• “Anyone who moved through those years (World War 2) without understanding that man produces evil as bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head” (emphasis and context added, 252)

• “It seems to me that man’s capacity for greed, his innate cruelty and selfishness was being hidden behind a kind of pair of political pants. I believed then, that man was sick- not exceptional man, but average man. I believed that the condition of man was to be a morally diseased creation and that the best job I could do at that time was to trace the connection between his diseased nature and the intentional mess he gets himself into” (emphasis added, 252)

• “Man is a fallen being. He is gripped by original sin. His nature is sinful and his state perilous” (emphasis added, 253)

• “but it (the story) breaks down in blood and terror because the boys are suffering from the terrible disease of being human” (emphasis and context added, 255)

• “The overall picture (of the Lord of the Flies) was to be the tragic lesson that the English have had to learn over a period of one hundred years, that one lot of people is inherently like any other lot of people; and that the only enemy of man is inside him.” (emphasis and context added, 255)

To further validate my inference, and meet the necessary criterion of empathising with the text, I have also noted portions of the novel which denote a belief in sin-lust.

Quotes and general observations from ‘Lord of the Flies’, (references made to the ‘Lord of the Flies, Educational Edition’)

Quote/Recurring Theme	Suggested Interpretation	Page no.
“If you don’t blow (the conch), we’ll soon be animals   anyway.”	This enforces that men, when left to their own devices, are   animalistic by nature	115
Circumstantial evil is   suggested through the boy’s fear that the beast is from the air and the sea,   in contrast with Simon’s suggestion.   · “He (Percival) says the beast comes out of the sea” · In Chapter 6, the dead parachutist which fell from the sky is   thought to be the Beast. The chapter is also (conveniently) titled ‘Beast   from the Air’	The boys are blaming   their evil and misfortune on their natural circumstances. Golding uses this   to show the alternative if mankind does not have the indwelling urge to   do wrong.	109
“Fancy thinking that the Beast was something you could hunt and kill”	Through this quote Golding rejects the aforementioned   alternative that sin was circumstantial and was thus corporeal and detectable   by the senses.	177
“You knew didn’t you? I’m   part of you? Close, close,   close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”	Stark support for   sin-lust	177
“You know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down here- so don’t   try to escape!”	“Here” refers to Simon’s hideout spends time alone (as   established in Chapter 3). Through this dialogue Golding highlights that one   will find himself to be inherently sinful upon self-reflection	178
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart”	Explicit evidence for   the argument of sin-lust	248
The entirety of the   plot supports the belief of sin-lust ·   The story’s general trend revolves around the decline of boys   into savagery without the presence of civilisation	Explicit evidence for the argument of sin-lust
The plot utilises youths without the company of adults, and   results in the children turning into savages	Expressing how men in their purest, most unadulterated form,   succumb to sin-lust without civilisation’s supervision

*Emphasis was purposefully added for the words in
bold

 

Therefore, with Golding’s own words, both when he sits on his metaphorical high chair and when he reviews his own novel whilst struggling not to sound like a self-entitled egoist, Golding unquestionably supports the concept that men inherently lust for sin, and this quote may be one of many through which he expresses this belief. This begs the question: What does such a belief imply? Why does Golding ascribe to it if it only leaves him as a grumpy old pessimist, that he needed to devote 12 chapters of child savagery to shake his wrinkled fist at humanity? How can all humans be so fundamentally flawed; what about people who are eternally kind, loving, selfless, and humble like yours truly? Thus first and foremost, I shall attempt to define and elaborate the concept, that we may accurately analyse its aspects.

 More in the next post; Thanks for reading :)