Help with my Lord of the Flies quote?

Question

The quote is: "... there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once both heroic and sick."

I know that it's what Simon pictures the beast as rather than some animal, but...

I don't understand the "at once both heroic and sick" part.

Help me?

Answer 1

You see, the beast is actually a symbol for humans innate savagery - that if we let it, it will soon overtake us. So Simon(who represents complete goodness) is saying just this - that the beast, or we humans are both heroic( in this sense that we are ambitious and surpassing the ordinary) and sick(because we are prone to violence- an innate savagery).  That because we are 'sick', we are not simple, demonstrating how we are truly complex and that if we let our ambitious take the best of us, we may become savage like the boys in the novel.

A little  complicated, but hope that helps! :o)