Page 115 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

they can be. Simon's death also adds to the undertones of Darwinism in the novel, because
people who are chronically ill or have a disability are not the fittest in nature and are most likely
to die in nature, which is what happens to Simon and to Piggy who is overweight and suffers
from asthma. Ralph, the physically strongest of the entire group, is the only one from the good
faction of the group still left standing at the end of the novel.

Simon's death serves as the catalyst for the makeshift society the boys have built for
themselves falling apart. If Simon had survived and managed to tell the other boys what he
found, he would have been the hero of the story. Instead, he succumbs to the gravity of his
illness and dies. The story leans towards ableist values in the sense that only the strongest and
healthiest can survive, and any form of disability or chronic illness is seen as a form of weakness
in the novel.

Golding's leanings towards ableist perspective and Darwinism reflect views on disability
and chronic illness at the time of the novel's publication. People with disabilities and chronic
illnesses were often stigmatized and marginalized to the point that people with epilepsy hid their
diagnoses. Simon does in the novel. He is aware that he has epilepsy and yet does not mention it
to Ralph or any of the other boys on the island. Instead of trying to recover from his seizure, he
runs to tell the other boys what he discovered. He pretends that he is all right even though he is
not, which contributes to his death.

Something else that lends itself to Darwinism in the novel is the fact that Jack's tribe—the
“savages”—nearly win in the end. They are the most savage predators and according to
Darwinian philosophy would be at the top of society. Simon is never savage. If he had survived,
he would likely have stayed with Ralph and Piggy. It adds to the notion that Golding thinks
people are inherently evil. Simon's goodness dies with him, as do his enlightenment and wisdom.

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