Jack and Simon in Chapter Three of the Lord of the Flies
In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding makes many contrasts betweenhis symbolic characters. For example in chapter three, ‘Huts on thebeach’, many contrasts and similarities are made between the twocharacters Jack and Simon. These descriptions give an idea to theirpersonality and feelings.
The description of Simon in the jungle, and Jack in the woodshighlights many of their differences. Jack is alone and descriptionslike, ‘with flared nostrils’, and ‘ape- like’ suggest he is behavinglike an animal. Jack’s appearance is also starting to resembleanimals, as his hair has grown, ‘longer’, and his skin darker with, ‘amess of dark freckles’. Simon’s appearance is described similarly tojacks. He has ‘ a coarse mop of black hair,’ which was ‘long’ Simon onbare feet, like jack and he has dark skin and only wears, ‘the remainsof shorts’. This shows that both characters do not take much care intheir appearance. In this sense, living on the island has effectedthem both in the same way.
Jack has changed in himself by becoming less prim and proper. He hasstarted to swear, become more dirty and tatty, ‘streaked with brownearth’ and he is wearing only, ‘tattered shorts’, these factors allshow how jack is loosing his inhibitions and that from the start ofthe book he has changed greatly.
The settings of the wood and jungle are quite similar, although theway Golding presents them greatly changed the perception of Jack andSimon. Simon, in the jungle is presented in an attractive way bydescriptions like, ‘the scent of ripeness’ and, ‘flower and fruit growtogether on the same tree’. When Simon walks past the candle buds, thequote, ‘the …
… but it is evident that he has much wisdom, and sayswell thought through comments. An example of this is when Jack andRalph are speaking, and Simon abruptly joins in their conversation bysaying, ‘as if it was not a good island’. This is meant in a way totry and make Jack and Ralph consider the point. Then he goes on tosay, ‘as if the beastie, the beastie or the snake- thing was real’.Simon unlike Ralph and Jack, does not find the beastie a threat, anddoes not seem scared or frightened about it.
Jack and Ralph both like having the role as leader, and have a wantfor power over the lives of the group. Jack says to Ralph, ”you’rechief. You tell ’em off’, in a harsh tone, showing he is jealous aboutRalph being leader. Simon, unlike Jack and Ralph shows no desire to beleader. This reinforces the idea that Simon could be compared to Jesusfigure.