The effectiveness of the death of Simon
At the beginning of the chapter, Simon realizes that the boys have mistaken the parachutist for the deadly beast that has plunged their entire group into chaos. Adding to his Christ like figure, he frees the parachutist from the rocks, and then, anxious to prove to the group that the beast is not real after all, Simon staggers down the mountain toward the distant light of the fire at Jack's feast to tell the other boys what he has seen.
Golding uses the weather throughout the chapter to show the build up of tension on the island and then a release of all the built up tension. He opens the chapter with a sinister description of the odd weather on the island, with the “brassy glare” of the sky where “colours drained” and “nothing prospered”.
During the climax and the killing of Simon, the weather stimulates the confused frenzy as a streak of lightning is described as a “blue white scar” above the boys and the “dark sky shattered”.
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Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
The Quality of Written Communication is excellent too. There are very few errors in spelling, punctuation or grammar made and the candidate has a clear ability to use language well to express their views.
Level of analysis
The Level of Analysis is excellent. As well as commenting on how Golding manipulates weather in order to foreshadow the event of Simon's death such as the searing heat of the island, where "colours drained" (the link to how the vagueness of colour represents a loss of contact with reality/sanity and that after that, like an animal, everything is black and white could be more explicit), there is an astute comprehension of what the death of Simon means for the remaining characters in the novel. Their appreciation of how "Simon’s death symbolises the loss of truth and innocence" is well-expressed with a clear understanding that it means the boys have finally "conform[ed] to their primitive instincts". As well as noting the larger, symbolic nature of the death of Simon, their is evidence of recognition of how Golding manipulates language and also how the event of Simon's death affects the story line and surprises the reader, quoting consistently from the source text to show a critical understanding of how to shape a good analysis. The crushing inevitability of the character's death is also commenting on, and how, had the boys not been aroused by the games into just how vicious they could be, they might have reacted differently to Simon's presence after emerging from the forest.
Response to question
Here, the question is askin candidates to analyse the effect of the death of Simon in William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'. The candidate, in order to achieve top marks, must realise the themeatic gravity of the character's death, as well as how it reverberates through the rest of the novel, as well as any foreshadowing. There must also be an appreciation of what the death shows about the other characters. In their answer, this candidate covers all of this and more, with a sensitive awareness to how to answer the question in a well-structured, well-informed method.
