Page 113 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

something similar to what Wagner describes. Wagner's anecdote shows that people who have
epilepsy are aware of the things going on in their brains to an extent, but they cannot focus on
what is going on around them.

Golding implies that Simon suffers from generalized seizures. In her article, on page 45,
Wagner explains that there are two main kinds of seizures: focal and generalized. She writes,
“Generalized seizures affect the whole brain and cause a lack of consciousness—the muscles of
the body may relax completely or they may jerk and cause the person to convulse.” On page 134
of the Kindle edition, Golding writes “Simon's body was arched and stiff” and on page 135, “he
fell down and lost consciousness.”

By making the attack more severe, Golding makes Simon's illness seem more serious to
the audience and making him ill makes him more vulnerable to the other boys. He is ill from
time he wakes up from the episode to the time he dies. When Simon enters the circle of boys on
the beach, Golding describes him as being in pain. He writes, “The shrill scream that rose before
the beast was like a pain” (143). Despite being physically ill, Simon does manage to see the truth
about the pilot on the mountain and how “the beast was harmless and horrible” (138 Kindle
edition). The fact that Simon comes to this realization after having a seizure and while still being
ill highlights the fact that people who have seizures see things differently than other people and
notice things that other people do not.

Golding presents Simon's illness as a gift in the novel. However, the other boys are blind
to his wisdom. Their reaction to Simon reveals how weakness is seen by the boys, which mirrors
society in the real world. Simon comes to see the truth about fear through his epilepsy, but
because he is weak and ill in front of the boys all they see is weakness; Simon becomes
dehumanized to the point of being mistaken for the beast.

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