Murder is the unlawful killing of one human being committed by another. There is no excuse for taking a human life whatsoever. This applies not only in reality but in novels as well. Due to this, the death of Simon, which had been carried out by the boys, was murder and someone needs to be held responsible. The boys, being the ones who had bit and tore apart Simon’s body, ultimately killing him, could be held accountable for several reasons. For one, the boys had played the “game” before, and they did not care once Simon’s body lay on the ground, his blood staining the sand. Therefore, Simon’s death was murder, and not an accident. 

The ingrained barbarian instincts of the boys are displayed during the course of their hunting game. The boys had played the hunting game they had created previously, making it clear they knew what they were doing. The first time they played the game, the game had not been taken too far, but it was an extremely close brush with death for Roger. Luckily for Roger, the boys had stopped just in time, laughing it all off, even joking about making the game better by perhaps using a littlun. All of this is taken more than a few steps farther when Simon rushes to the boys, coming with news about the beast. As Simon arrives, he is seen as the beast from the boys’ perspectives. Simon, swallowed by the ring of boys, was on his knees and was “crying out against the abominable noise, something about a body on the hill[...]At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (153). No matter how much Simon cried out in the end, it was useless. The boys had been too absorbed in their thirst for bloodshed and their fear of the beast. They had become deranged, the beast taking up every waking thought they had, making them delusional. Even when Simon’s body lay on the beach, staining the sand blood-red, the boys had simply broken apart and run away. 

Although some might say it was dark and Simon did not look like himself, the murder was anything but inexcusable. While it is understandable that the boys had been fear-ridden, murder is murder. Murder can be an accident, but either way, something was done wrong and the consequences need to be faced. For example, if a person was on drugs and had gotten into an argument with another and out of rage had ended up beating them to their death. While it was a rash decision and this person was not in their senses as they had been angered and under the influence of drugs, they committed murder either way. The actions that had been carried out were inexcusable and consequences must be faced. Similarly, these boys had beaten Simon to his death while their minds were not in their right senses. Even Ralph comes to this realization when he becomes somewhat hysterical, trying to deal with his guilt. He tells Piggy the death was murder, and Piggy who is attempting to run away from the guilt, tells Ralph simply to stop. 

To conclude, Simon’s death was murder as the boys had committed voluntary manslaughter. The fear of the beast had made the boys paranoid to the point that they would do absolutely anything to get rid of the beast. Their fear clouded the boys’ moralities and logical thinking. With their moralities gone, the boys longed for bloodshed, their chant proof of this terrible new craving. When moralities disappear in human beings, fairness disappears as well. People would forget the difference between right and wrong. Situations such as these, when people get murdered, could occur more often than it occurs in our world currently. Without these ethics that keep us sane, we would not be able to live with one another. It was due to this loss of morals that Simon was killed, and no matter how hard it is to accept the harsh reality, the truth is that Simon was murdered by the boys.