"'Run away,' said the head silently, 'go back to the others, It was a joke really -- why should
you bother? You were just wrong, that's all. A little headache, something you ate, perhaps.
Go back, child,' said the head silently." What does that mean?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
This quote from "The Lord of the Flies" literally means for Simon to go back to the tribe. It also is saying that the Lord of the Flies is really not real, but simply a part of Simon's imagination; part of his delirium. However, the way this was sentenced is interesting. It is spoken as a command from an adult. It seems as if in Simon's subconscious, he wants an adult to tell him what to do; to tell him what is right and what is wrong. That explains how the Lord of the Flies came up. It is just a theory!
I agree. The severed head on a stick practically sealed Simon's death. He knew it was not real, and the Lord of the Flies knew that, too.
I guess in a way, the pig was truly mocking him. He had continued to fill Simon's feeble mind with evil and hateful thoughts, but allowed to him to just forget about it, knowing that that could never happen.
Simon was desperate and needed true leadership, but that was nowhere to be found. And who should just so happen to come along? A sow's head on a stick.
Simon, being the only true advocate of truth and reason, went down in flames after listening to what he feared most.
Sergio´s comment makes a lot of sense and I agree with the fact that it is interesting how he makes it in his head sound as if it was a command spoken to him by an adult. This also shows how it is a play by Simon´s mind because it can show his actual homesickness or that as we had said in class, he might suffer from post traumatic stress disorder so the Lord of the Flies could be a link to something else.
I also like how Golding makes it seem as if it is a hidden message but the Lord of the Flies is actually saying what he means, go back to the tribe. I also noticed that in a way, Simon is telling himself that his head illusions are just a dream and he is trying to convince himself but the island´s force is just way to strong.
I disagree with the responses in this topic. This is just how I'm taking it, but it seems to me that they are portraying Simon as weak, someone who needs a master, to tell him what to do so that he knows that things will be okay. As Nate said, "he had continued to fill Simon's feeble mind with evil and hateful thoughts..." It is true that Simon was the most affected by what has happening, and might have been that he was afraid of the beast the most since he knew what it was but no one else did, making him feel as if he was desolated. But - and this goes along with the Christ figure topic - the pig's head impaled on the stake, which could represent Beelzebub (a demon from Semitic mythology, who later came to be just one of the many names for Satan), was "tempting" Simon, telling him that he was wrong and that he should go back to the tribe for he is also evil, as everyone already pointed out. Yet, The Lord of the Flies failed in tempting Simon because he does not change his ideas and becomes savage as the rest do. Instead, he decides to go back and finds out about the man in the parachute. He still has his reason with him, and tries to inform everyone about their mistake, but gets killed in the process.
Since Simon is the representation of Christ and the sow's head is the representation of the devil, when the sow's head is telling Simon to go back its telling him that he should follow along with them. By this I mean, since Simon was the seeker of truth, and so was Christ, the sow's head was telling him to back into savegery sort of what Christ always talks about is to not fall into temptation.
I am confused. I see two different things going on here. First, the whole idea of tempting him seems like a good response, for indeed isn't it sayin that it should go back and just let himself be carried away and become savage like the rest?
I agree with Armando, Simon is not weak, but has any of you ever debated against yourself? I think that the lord of the flies is like the opposite of Simon which knows how to overcome his fears. Isn't Simon too shy to speak up?
"Simon felt a perilous necessity to speak; but to speak in assembly was a terrible thing to him" (89). This makes me interpret what the head says as, yes encouragment to go find out what the beastie actually is, but also for him to go back, but instead of going back to be swept into savagery, for him to go back and speak up.
So the lord of the flies is a mix of good and evil. It is setting out Simon's options: go back and let yourself become savage or go back and save your friends from being savage by finding out the truth. The head does this though, as part of Simon, a part of his subconcious that is still himself, but appearing in another form due to his visions from being so susceptible to the heat.
Jesica has a good point in that the pig's head has both good and evil in it and that it was Simon speaking to himself. Like the thing of "Your greatest fear is yourself (or is inside yourself). You fear the drive to terrible or great things."
So Simon is scared of having to confront himself, of speaking up and defeat the "temptation" of becoming a savage.
to do terrible things, sorry.
ok
Post a Comment