Simon’s role as a visionary is alluded to in this chapter not only by his hidden place of meditation but also by Golding’s description of his eyes: “so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked.” While Piggy has the glasses, another symbol of vision, Simon has the bright eyes that later in the novel see the truth about the beast.
To highlight Ralph’s growing disenchantment with Jack and disillusionment with being a leader, Golding brings back together, in this chapter, the three boys who went exploring that first day. Caught up in the glamour of newness and adventure, the three seemed to become instant friends. By now, however, Ralph cannot overlook that Jack’s priority on hunting is undermining his own efforts to create a home for the boys, that Simon is not the mischievous prankster Ralph perceived him to be, and that the boys in general quickly forget their promises to work toward a common goal when faced with the more immediate gratification of eating and playing. Ralph has come to the realization that “people were never quite what you thought they were.”
