Writing Resources
Simon Says Don’t Be a Savage In the fictional novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding a group of British schoolboys find themselves stranded on an uninhabited island after their plane crashes during a time of war As the boys live on the island most of them descend into savagery losing their sense of morality This relates to a parable from the Ojibwa where an Elder tells his grandson about the fight between a good wolf and an evil wolf that goes on inside everyone the wolf who wins is the one that is fed While the boys who descend into savagery feed the evil wolf the boys who retain their identities and morals feed the good wolf Two characters in particular Simon and Jack are prominent examples that demonstrate this parable In Golding's novel Simon feeds his good wolf and preserves his individuality and standards by not forgetting about his memory of civilization while Jack feeds his evil wolf and loses his identities and morals by embracing the inherent savage in himself Simon feeds his good wolf and retains individuality and standards by not forgetting about his memory of civilization When Simon sees that the fruit the littluns want to eat is beyond their reach he pulled off the choicest fruit from up in the foliage and passed them back to the endless outstretched hands Golding 56 While most of the other boys taunt and are cruel to the littluns Simon is generous and benevolent to them The boys disregard the littluns and mock them unlike Simon
