The Contrasting Style and Themes in the End of Chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies

The end of chapter 9 is very different to the rest of the novel, both in the style it is written and in what Golding is trying to portray about human nature.

My first impressions of this extract are how different Golding's style of writing is; he is much more poetic, mythical way "the clear water mirrored the clear sky". The rest of the novel is written in much more of a matter-of-fact style, through the eyes of one of the other boys, however still in third person.

The way he uses adjectives such as "inaudible" create a sense of calmness and silence, which is a harsh contrast to the killing scene just before "the noise was unendurable". This is perhaps to represent the calm, quiet spirituality of Simon's nature, and show how he is a million miles away from the other boys, who made so much noise. It could also represent the fact that Simon is now alone, both physically and metaphorically as he is the only one who knows the truth.

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Golding also creates an almost superhuman element to Simon, making Simon godlike or giving him the air of a Saint; "...dressed Simon's course hair with brightness". This is interesting as it is something he was made a point of not doing elsewhere in the novel. He has made a point of showing how fragile human nature is- "Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked to and fro", here showing Ralph's emotional breakdown after participating in a murder, and shown the other boys to have regressed to become subhuman "savages", in opposition to Simon becoming almost angelic.

Throughout the novel Golding has also used the island as a microcosm of the 'real world', and towards the end of the extract he goes against this idea and describes the world beyond in great detail "itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations". I think the fact he describes this in so much detail is important, he is clearly trying to make a point of it: the fact the death of Simon is such a huge human tragedy, but yet when compared to the enormity of the natural world it pales in insignificance.

Even though the novel at first seems pessimistic, and hard to believe the author was a Christian, I disagree. When Golding writes "Simon's dead body moved out to sea", I think he is showing that amongst all the injustices in the world, those with faith and spirituality (as I think Simon is meant to represent the spiritual aspect of human nature) will go to a better place away from the horror of the world. I think the novel perhaps has a subtle underlying Christian message.

You can see throughout that Golding has been very crafting in how he uses techniques to explain the importance of Simon's death in the novel, and the important differences between Simon and the other boys, and the fact Simon has not turned savage. The language he has used to show this is not typical of the rest of the novel however the symbolism is.

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