Lord of the Flies

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In William Golding’s novel, the Lord of the Flies, even though Ralph became chief of the stranded boys, Jack eventually rose to power through scare tactics, confidence, determination, and control. When Jack demonstrated his leadership skills, it was evident that he was superior to Ralph and would use his sense of Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and his oratory skills to surpass and isolate Ralph completely. Regardless of Ralph’s strengths, such as his conch, democratic maneuvers, firm motives, and kind demeanor, Jack’s mere presence ousted Ralph’s chances of taking effective leadership. By using propaganda against Ralph, gaining support from his partisan tribe members, and overpowering Ralph through his persuasive techniques and appearance, Jack clearly demonstrated how his leadership of the island was inevitable.
Jack’s use of propaganda augmented his assets and facilitated his rise to power. For instance, Jack compared Ralph to a weaker character by stating, “He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief... He’s a coward himself...” (115). This comparison of Ralph to Piggy portrayed Ralph as a weak, derided character, especially since Piggy was constantly ridiculed and abhorred for his corpulent appearance. As a result of this anti-Ralph propaganda, the boys looked to Jack as their leader because of Ralph’s lowered prestige and ostensible cowardliness. Jack additionally used propaganda against Ralph by explaining how Ralph allegedly thought that the others were cowards, “running away from the boar and the beast” (115). By conveying this misinformation with the tribe members, Jack gave himself more support, since he created more hatred towards Ralph. Furthermore, this rising hatred dem...

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...ph’s remarks seemed lame, even to the littluns” (129). Ralph’s power was obviously decreasing; this was due to Jack’s more convincing remarks and strong appearance. As a result, even the littluns, who usually looked at situations with neutrality and innocence, swayed towards Jack. Obviously, Jack was becoming superior to Jack, allowing him to take leadership over the island.
Through strong propaganda, fervor from others, and superior verbal skills, Jack eventually took power over the island. His propaganda weakened Ralph by spreading pretenses about him; to supplement this weakening of Ralph, more and more tribe members supported Jack, displaying affection for his powerful personality, appearance, and verbal skills. Without his charisma or dominating tactics, Jack would not have been able to take such effective leadership, eventually isolating Ralph completely.

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