Lord of the Flies Essay

The title of this book, Lord of The Flies, refers to Beelzebub, a figure that is often linked with the devil. The book also has several references to Jesus Christ of the new testament, which shows us the religious integrity of the book. This essay refers to a specific character in that book, Simon, a boy who is lost on an island with a group of other boys. Simon has just been killed by the other boys. The other boys have embraced their inner savage, and have disregarded their previous civilized lives. Simon however, is the only one who has not. In the last four paragraphs of â€Å"Chapter Nine: A View to a Death†, of Lord of the Flies, Golding makes clear the use of light imagery to suggest the apotheosis of Simon. The changing environment around Simon suggests his apotheosis. The sky shows us that Simon is being deified. When Simon is killed, â€Å"the rain cease[s]† (153) and the sky becomes scattered with â€Å"incredible lamps of stars† (153). This text suggests that Simon’s death has gone noticed, from which the setting turns from a dark rainy night, into a clear, starlighted evening, as if Simon has been summoned by fellow deities. Golding describes nearby holy organisms using light imagery. The passage states that the shoreline â€Å"was full of strange, moonbeam-bodied creatures with fiery eyes† (154). The creatures that are present in the scene are bright and full of light, which indicate the holiness of the scene, as only a deity could attract such mysterious and bright creatures. The shoreline itself is also used to describe imagery. The shoreline Simon’s body was on â€Å"became a streak of phosphorescence† (153). The word phosphorescence is another indicator of light, which shows the imagery of the scene. It is suggestes that this is spontaneous phosphorescence, which means it suddenly luminated the dark scene upon Simon’s death. Golding uses several factors of the environment to create light imagery, which suggest the divine change that Simon’s body is going through. The imagery used to describe the transformation of Simon’s body suggests a divine change. Golding describes how Simon’s body becomes outlined. On the beach, â€Å"the line of [Simon’s] cheek silvered† (154). The reference of silver, which is referenced multiple times in this passage, shows that Simon is being encrusted in a outline that is abnormal to mortals. As in, he may be dead, but his body is being immortalized like a god. Imagery is used to describe the creatures that surround Simon and their actions. These creatures â€Å"with their fiery eyes†¦ busied themselves round his head† (154). The creatures are rounding Simon’s head, which creates a halo, an angelic symbol. The halo is often drawn on angels, which are prophets of deities. Simon’s body becomes permanently preserved as a deity. After the creatures surround him, â€Å"the turn of [Simon’s] shoulder became sculptured marble. Marble is a stone that is usually used to create statues of gods and goddesses, which is the bright stone that Golding states Simon’s body transforms into. Golding uses deity-like qualities to describe Simon’s dead body with light imagery. Simon’s environment, as well as his dead body, has been proven to show clear symbolism between him immortal deities. Golding uses light imagery to accomplish this. Simon was executed for no logical reason in this book. It is important to note that the savagery of primitive society slowly, but steadily, got the best of these boys, with the exception of the one boy, who brought reason but was rejected.