Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, tells the story of a group of boys stranded on an island. The novel begins when a plane carrying a group of school-aged boys crashes into a remote island. The boys must figure out, on their own, how to run the island to stay alive. Piggy, a brainiac, and Simon, an elusive young boy, are both static characters. As Simon and Piggy’s characters unfold, their psychology, role, shortcomings, and motives unfold too.
Piggy is an outcast in the group of boys, he is cast aside, yet is the brain of the group. He is the only boy on the island that has common sense, and reasons for the bad decisions made. He knows what to do with the conch, what a signal fire should look like, and the relative time of day according to the sun Piggy also thinks methodically. He also often quotes his aunt, who is the only female voice on the island. Piggy wears glasses, is fat, and has asthma. This is important because Piggy’s glasses are part of the reason the boys survived so long on the island, due to the fact that his glasses start the fire. Piggy represents the cultural, and rational part of society. Piggy’s main motivation mainly comes from Jack and his hunter's rebellious nature and the tension between the two clans, he wants everyone to abide by the rules of a “civilized” society. Piggy clings on to the last piece of civilization by following the authority of not the island but what he had in London because there is no authority on the island, he simply is used to thinking if he does something bad he will be punished. Piggy’s psychology is still on the first level of thinking. He is always mentioning his aunt when doing something or using the conch shell because Piggy is worried that they will get in trouble with an adult on the island yet there isn’t any. His perspective on survival never changes even up to his death. Piggy’s shortcomings are poor eyesight, a weight problem, and asthma, he is also the most physically vulnerable of the boys.
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Simon is the most in touch with himself as a character in the novel, Simon has a deep connection with nature and often enjoys walking alone in the jungle. Simon's role as an artistic, religious person is shown not only by his hidden place of meditation but also by the description of his eyes: 'so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked.' Piggy has the glasses, one symbol of vision, and Simon has bright eyes, a symbol of another kind of vision and truth. Simon is different from the other boys not only because of his physical weakness, shown in his fainting spells and medical conditions but also in his consistently expressed concern for the other weak boys. Simon represents human beings’ spiritual nature and being. Simon has an understanding of how human minds work, this is why he often walks alone in the woods because he tries to get in touch with reality. Simon’s main motivation is his desire to stay alive and help others survive as well. This is shown when he comforts Ralph and tells him that “You'll get out alright” or when he is the only one to assist Ralph in building the final shelter. Simon’s train of thought is probably the most mysterious out of all the boys. He walks around the island during the night when the other boys are too afraid to step out of the shelters. Simon has a “special place” on the island that he goes to so he can understand his surroundings and keep himself from going insane.
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