Simon as Silent Prophet of Lord Of The Flies Essay

Simon as Silent Prophet of Lord Of The Flies The role of the prophet changes with the society in which he lives. In Modern America, a prophet is a visionary, telling his people what they can become; in Biblical times, a prophet was the voice of God, telling his people what they had to become to fulfill their covenant with God. In William Goldings Lord of the Flies, though, the prophet told his people nothing; he realized what they had already become, and he dared not tell them because he knew they would turn against him. Simon lived in knowledge and fear because his society denied the role of the prophet, and he did not fight it because he wanted so much to be part of that society. The basic premise of Lord of†¦show more content†¦Simon, though he did not tell the other boys of his vision, was incapable of forgetting. He was the observant character, the quiet philosopher. He was often alone, sometimes by his own choice, and he liked to wander into the peaceful jungle. He sincerely cared about the other boys, sometimes helping the young ones to fetch fruit, yet Simon turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him. Soon high jungle closed in (56). He loved solitude and yet felt loneliness; he was alien to the other boys. The boys did not think anyone would be stupid enough to go into the jungle by night: The assembly grinned at the thought of going out into the darkness. Then Simon stood up and Ralph looked at him in astonishment (85). Many of the boys even thought he was batty because he left the group to spend time alone. He did not fear the jungle, and he did not fear the Beast. Maybe, he said hesitantly, maybe there is a beas t. . . . maybe its only us (89). The Beast takes many forms in the boys imaginations; once, they saw a strange shape moving at the top of a mountain, and they were afraid that it was the Beast. No one dared to go near it save Simon, who went alone to the mountaintop during one of his sojourns; he discovered that the Beast was only a dead parachuter whose gear shifted in the wind. Ironically, the dead man was a soldier, a symbol of the savagery that was the true Beast. However, Simons compassionShow MoreRelatedEssay on History of Crucifixion6118 Words   |  25 Pages(sedicula) or a wooden peg positioned midway on the upright supported the body weight from tearing open the wounds. Once the condemned was thus immobilized he was left alone, unable to attend to bodily functions, unprotected from inclement weather or flies, and, because the place of execution was usually some public street or prominent place, subjected to abusive words and mockery from passersby. Often the body was left to putrefy on the cross and becom e the prey of carrion birds to complete the utterRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesmainstream of popular culture through the use of music. Marley is not seen as a religious ï ¬ gure; rather he is seen as a rock star, a pop hero, an icon. And yet his faith is at the core of his music. Rastafarians have dubbed Marley the psalmist and prophet of the movement. This is a crucial part of the wonderful complexity of the Rastafarian movement. Jamaica owes a great debt to the men who formed the Rastafarian movement in the 1930s. Rastafarianism has served as a lightning rod of discussion about