Evaluation of Ralph as a Leader in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

Evaluation of Ralph as a Leader in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

When thinking about whether or not Ralph was a good leader, we have to

look at his ideals and how he achieved them. However, we must remember

that Ralph's leadership was hindered by the opinions firstly of Jack,

who rivaled him throughout the stay on the island, and those of the

boys. Because if Ralph could not persuade the boys that his ideas were

commendable and worthwhile, he would not have been a very successful

group leader. In my opinion, regardless of whether he was accepted by

some of the group, he was a better leader than Jack was. This was

because he had many key skills that are required in order to maintain

control and respect. In saying this, I feel that Jack was a bad

leader. Where as Ralph had all the boys best interests at heart, was

intent on surviving in a civilized manner and getting rescued as soon

as possible, Jack became obsessed with power, the joys of hunting, and

having as much fun and wreaking as much havoc, as possible.

At first, Ralph was as excited by the prospect of no adults and no

rules as the other boys: offence offense

"The delight of a realised ambition came over him'...'He stood on his

head and grinned."

But as time went on, marked by the increasingly long hair of the boys,

he became increasingly concerned with the welfare of others, and

realised that someone needed to keep the others behaving well. As he

matured, Jack moved closer and closer to the savage image that Simon

alone feared was inside every one of them at that moment. This made

Ralph try harder, a skill of a leader. The following are reasons why

Ralph was an ...

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...horitative when it was necessary, but most of the

time he was willing to step back or compromise over things. However,

when Jack and his hunters let the fire go out in their haste to kill

an innocent pig under the pretext of "needing food", he becomes

furious:

"Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can't keep a fire going to

make smoke. Don't you understand? Can't you see we ought to-ought to

die before we let the fire out?"

"There's no man with the trumpet. Only me"

"Course I'm frightened. Who wouldn't be?"-

"You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say."

When became a monolith with one terrible thought-to kill:

Not afraid to admit

"And I was frightened and started to call out for Ralph"

"this meeting must not be fun, but business."

"We can't leave the littluns alone'...'not all night"