MovieChat Forums > Circle of Friends (1995) Discussion > Simon good guy /bad guy (spoilers)

Simon good guy /bad guy (spoilers)

posted 16 years ago by nwilcu01
10 replies | jump to latest

I have read the book and I am calling on the opinions of those who have done the same? Is Simon good, bad or just a man? My opinion is that Nan is much worse than he is.

He made clear (at least to me) that he had no plans to marry Nan. And she knew this. She knew that he was not taking her to his home and meet his family. He even mentions that he was a fortune hunter. She was a fortune hunter she knew this that is why she would not let him take her home.

He gave Eve her college money. I still don't understand why he would do that. He couldn't even afford a hotel room for him and Nan.

Some of his bad points: He refused to marry her when he knew the baby is his even though he had no plans of abandoning her he did truly want to truly help her out. (he was very insensitive) It seems to me that the only truly unforgivable act was asking her to terminate the pregnancy which by the standards of the time were not only illegal but immoral. But look what happened to his sister when she married someone who was not of the same class. And even Jacks parents did not want Jack to marry Nan. Jack only agreed to marry her out of guilt. If he had had time to think and with a clear head he might have changed his mind. All he could think about was being a father that is enough to scare any young man of 20 out of there wits. There were other legal and moral options.

I am sure I have forgotten a few things what are your opinions? I think that sometimes we might be a little to hard on Simon.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] adeshinadevil 16 years ago

For the most part i wouldnt say that he was really good or really bad, but i do think he is more good than bad though. However he is very nonchalant and insensitive.

<3 golden girl re-runs!Loool

[–] marcchanois 16 years ago

if simon is a mainly ...good guy. what's jack? a god-like guy ???

[–] nw_sea1 14 years ago

I think Simon was a product of his environment and upbringing. His family were the only really rich people in town, English, and I think they looked down on the Irish townsfolk and anyone not born into his upper-class background. He was snobbish and had a sense of entitlement--he was a Westward, so of course his needs came first. In the book, he hardly knows the names of anyone in the town, though he knows countless lords & ladies & Honorable this and that and other society bigwigs from Dublin, London and elsewhere.

He was selfish and egotistical and self-centered and self-absorbed, as everyone in his family seemed to be except for his sister Heather. (But then she really was brought up more by the maids than by him or their parents, so she probably learned to be a decent person and not to be so class-conscious and to accept people for themselves and not their backgrounds or wallets.)

But he did try to be somewhat fair, as much as his limited world-view and his self-centeredness and sense of entitlement would allow him. He gave Eve the money for college. In the book anyway he felt that his grandfather should have adopted Eve after her parents died, and that he (the grandfather) should have been kinder to her even if she didn't live with the family. He gave Nan the check for an abortion. Yes it was against her religion and the law at the time. Yes it was a very insensitive thing to do to someone who expected that he'd marry her. But he at least acknowledged that the child was his.

Not good or bad--just a very flawed person with some good points.

[–] jules2012 14 years ago

Simon was a posh guy with sexual flaws...Jack was a young guy with sexual flaws.
Both had parents that helped them out....the only difference was not class,(Jack was probably the first literal example of a chav)but generation!

[–] hodie 12 years ago

Simon had no choice but to acknowledge (behind closed doors, at least) that the child was his, in a town as small as that, though I doubt he might acknowledge it in public. He DID ask Nan whether she was sure. He was a snob. When it came down to brass tacks, Nan was always one of "you people" to Simon. He never even entertained the though that she would even expect to be seen as a potential spouse.
Not that Nan wasn't just as much of a snob.

And Nan then seduced and lied to Jack. Tsk.

"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

[–] sim7396 10 years ago

He made clear (at least to me) that he had no plans to marry Nan. And she knew this.

I disagree. Remember the conversation about the Infant of Prague? Simon says "you people" and Nan says "No, don't say that, I'm not like them (Catholic), I'm like you (Protestant)". Nan really is Catholic but she is convinced she'll marry Simon and convert to his religion. Also, at the beginning, the narrator (Benny) says "Nan was so beautiful, she always thought she could have anything she wanted". It's abundantly clear to me that she wanted to marry Simon for his money or social standing; she became pregnant with that goal in mind.

He gave Eve her college money. I still don't understand why he would do that. He couldn't even afford a hotel room for him and Nan.

It was Simon's family that gave her the money, based on a commitment they had made to Eve's father. Simon is just a cheap ba$74rd.

[–] justinemj 10 years ago

LOL I just watched the movie years late.. I thought Nan really loved Simon. Simon, perhaps liked her and when he was told she was pregnant, he told her that he wouldn't marry her. He never respected her or thought she was at the same level as him. He only liked her for sex.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Indeed.