Of the boys, only Simon took the presence of an unidentified creature on the mountain as a sign to be explored or a symbol to be considered, rather than as an indication of an animal-beast’s presence. By courageously seeking out the figure on the mountain, Simon fulfills his destiny of revelation. Having confronted both the Lord of the Flies (the sow’s head on a stick) and the so-called beast (the soldier’s corpse), Simon understands the nature of the evil on the island. He doesn’t get to share his revelation with the other boys because they are not ready to accept or understand it. They are living out the true beast’s actions while they think of themselves as playacting the roles of painted savages, which is Jack’s idea of fun — and the true beast’s as well.
When the tide carries off Simon’s body, covered in the jellyfish-like phosphorescent creatures that come in with the tide, Golding shifts the focus from Simon’s body’s movements to the much larger progressions of the sun, moon, and earth because Simon represents a knowledge as fundamental as the elements.
Golding uses the weather to symbolize a kind of universal assessment of the actions that have taken place in the novel and as a way to underscore the tension between and extreme reactions of the boys. He opens the chapter with an ominous description of the odd weather over the island: “the air was ready to explode . . . a brassy glare had taken the place of clear daylight.” Then the downpour starts in earnest immediately after Simon’s death, as though the weather were responding to the boys’ actions. The use of the weather as a dramatic technique is an ancient and effective tool.
