Lord of the Flies: The Novel Study

Synopsis

Simon discovers that the beast at the fire is simply a dead parachutist. He untangles the parachute lines from the rocks, then sets out to tell the boys the truth. Meanwhile, Ralph and Piggy join Jack’s feast, where Jack declares the conch powerless on his part of the island and asks others to join his tribe. As a storm begins, the boys begin their ritual killing dance. Simon emerges from the forest just as the boys are worked into a frenzy. Mistaken for the beast, he is killed. The parachutist blows over the boys and off the island, and the tide takes Simon’s body out to sea.

Discussion
1. Review how flies surround the pig’s head as the chapter begins. Are there parallels to how the boys surround Jack and take his offering of meat?

2. Jack declares that “the conch doesn’t count at this end of the island” (p. 166). Think back to The Conch, the Mace, and Symbols of Governance.
a) What does the conch symbolize?
b) If the conch does not count under Jack’s leadership, who will hold the most power on the island?
c) Laws reflect the values of those who possess power in a society. What does Jack’s declaration mean for the future of laws on the island?

3. When Simon is killed, the boys are described as “the throb and stamp of a single organism” (p. 167).
a) Do you think Canadian society is a “single organism”, or made up of diverse communities?
b) Pluralistic and multicultural societies may have profound disagreements about the need for, and application of, particular laws. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
4. Simon’s death, in part, is described as follows:
At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. (p. 168)
Does Simon’s death, and particularly this description, suggest there was truth in Simon’s belief that the beast was “us”?