We must first understand what Simon represents in the novel. From the beginning, Golding develops Simon as a Christ-figure. Simon takes on many of the characteristics that Christ had. Simon does not say too much but when he does speak it is to reveal some sort of truth. He defends the weak (Piggy,littluns) and he prefers to think in solitude. Simon is the only boy who understands the nature of the Beast; he knows the beast lives within all the boys. Simon knows the only beast on the island lies inside the boys, they all have humanity's essential illness, “However when Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick.”