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beast in his final moments dehumanizes him and shows the level of frenzy the other boys have
risen to. They are so caught up in their paranoia and the thrill of the hunt that they are blind to
the fact that Simon is the one who is trying to talk to them and that he is telling them there is
nothing to be afraid of after all.
Simon's death is the second one in the novel and the first sign to Ralph that things are
starting to go wrong for them. Anjum writes in her analysis of the novel, 鈥淭he 鈥榗ivilizing
instinct鈥� of a man urging him to鈥� follow rules鈥� and the feral instinct inciting him to act
brutally鈥un parallel in this novel.鈥� Here, Anjum alludes to the two groups the boys are split
into. As the article describing the thematic elements of the novel phrases it, 鈥淥ne group鈥�
including Simon鈥epresents the good and discipline鈥� (Rahman 227). By having Simon die at
that point in the novel, Golding creates a martyr and alludes to depictions of epilepsy throughout
history. According to Wagner on page 45 of her article, epilepsy was sometimes called 鈥渟acred
disease鈥� in ancient times, due to the visions people had during episodes.
Simon does have a vision during his episode. The Lord of the Flies sets off an epileptic
reaction and has a conversation with Simon about the nature of good and evil in all people and
about how the thing the boys are afraid of is all in their heads. The conversation between the two
characters is in the foreground of the scene, but there is concrete evidence that Simon is having a
seizure while the patient is going on. On page 134 of the Kindle edition, Golding writes,
鈥淪imon's head was tilted slightly up. His eyes could not break away鈥︹�� This description mirrors
an experience Wagner writes about in her article. She describes the first seizure she ever had as
she remembers it: 鈥渕y heart was pounding and my vision narrowed鈥� I was inside of myself and
outside of myself鈥�.And in the back of my throat鈥here was鈥n elusive silver scent鈥︹�� (43). If
Simon's experience had been written in first person, one could imagine him describing
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