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Lord of the flies morality
Lord of the flies morality
Strength and weakness of different types of leadership
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The recent presidential election has left a lot of people in turmoil. With every election, the candidates are always under constant surveillance with people watching and questioning everything they do or say. Leadership is a tough business because there are many routes a person can take. Some people are democratic leaders while others are authoritarian. Some politicians argue with logic and others argue using emotional tactics. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, the way two of the main characters, Jack and Ralph, choose to lead plays critical role in the plot of novel. While Jack chooses to rule with an iron fist, Ralph takes a more logical, democratic path. Between Ralph and Jack, Ralph is the better leader in the book because
I fully agree with this, but I don’t think that this argument is a good defense of Jack’s leadership skill because just because someone is good at getting people riled up doesn’t mean that they’re good at actually leading. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Jack continually gets people excited with his talk of hunting and eventually painting war paint on peoples’ faces. At the end of chapter 9, on page 136, this excitement is pushed over the edge when all the boys dance a tribal dance, chanting “Kill the Beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” which leads them to killing one of their own. After the fact, only Ralph and a few of the other show remorse for their actions. Throughout the book, there is hysteria amongst the boys over an alleged beast, which Jack continually uses to his advantage. Without the beast as leverage, I don’t think Jack would’ve been able to persuade the boys to join him with his war paint, hunting, and uncivilized offerings to the beast. Jack appealed to everyone’s simpler and more primitive side, which Ralph failed to do, but I don’t think doing this made Jack the better leader. In the end, it was Jack’s form of leadership that led to the deaths of Simon and Piggy and the burning of the island at the end of the book. Yes, Jack excited people, but he failed to release that excitement in a positive
According to Peter Drucker, he claims, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” Leadership is a commitment that is meant to be kept and done accurately. Leading a group or a society can lead to dreadful obstacles, but it’s your responsibility to have a solution to end. Ralph and Jack as a leader cause a majority of downhill for the boys. Affecting themselves and their surroundings to abruptly fall into pieces. Which lead to a mass destruction of the island, Lord of the Flies. The devastating events on this island lead to the massive chaos of Lord of the Flies, blaming Ralph and Jack for denial, lack of cooperation and inefficient leadership.
The Lord of the Flies is a gruesome story about young boys stranded on an island, who underwent a transformation from polite British choir boys to savage hooligans. One of the main difficulties the boys face during their adventures upon the island, is their method of government, they either follow the path of Ralph, the democratic leader whose main focus is to escape the despairing island; or Jack a power-hungry monarchical leader who won't ever take no for an answer. The two boys are constantly bickering and arguing over who deserves the leader-position. We all understand Ralph wants to be leader so that he can ensure that the boys will return back home, but in Jack's case, it is a constant mystery to us about why he wants power over the other children. But we do get much small hints from the author, William Golding, that Jack's biggest fear among the other children on the island is public humiliation. This becomes more and more evident the farther on into the book, and his fear seems to be what persuades him to reach for a powerful position.
Leadership is a trait that many people have naturally and others try to obtain. Many people consider themselves a good leader when they fail to carry out the characteristics leadership require. In the book, “Lord of the Flies”, Ralph is a better leader than Jack because of the traits he possesses. That is why certain skills are necessary to be considered a successful leader.
Jack’s authoritative figure in the beginning of Lord of the Flies is one quality that shows how he is a dynamic character. To begin with, Jack shows he is authoritative by sabotaging Ralph’s integrity and rules. For instance, on pages one-hundred and one and one-hundred and two, Jack says, “We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us.” Jack is trying to get rid of the idea that the conch, or freedom of speech, is needed. This is another step away from civilized behavior because a newly established order of power replaces the conch. Another way Jack shows he is authoritative is by wanting to be a leader. First, Jack forms his own group that he calls the hunters. Then, Jack intimidates the other boys to join his group by talking about the beast. Jack tells the little ‘uns that are scared that they will forget about the beast. ...
Denied Jack the power he craved, casing Jack to seek this control through any means necessary. Jack was conferred leadership over the hunters, formerly his choir. One of their duties being maintenance of the fire, they allowed it to go out while in a hunting trip. Having failed to signal a passing ship with smoke, Jack attempted to defend his actions by saying “We had to have them,” (70) in reference to those who should have been presiding over the fire. When Jack finally became fed up with Ralph, he attempted to usurp power. Upon failing, Jack angrily said “I’m not going to play,” (127) intent on beginning his own, rival tribe. After the majority of the island’s residents decided to join Jack, Ralph was forbidden from entering their camp, called Castle Rock. Jack even initiated sweep of the island to capture Ralph, dead or alive. These were the final moments of society on the island
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a story much like the true events of the totalitarian Soviet Union. The original leader in Lord of the Flies introduces himself simply as “Ralph”(Golding 8). Althought his priorities are good, his way of governing is certainly harsh: “ ‘You voted me chief. Now you do what I say ’ ”(115). Later in the book, power is switched to another leader of the group, Jack Merridew. Golding shows his style of rule as also very forceful. “‘There isn’t a tribe for you anymore… I’m chief!’” (261) Jack states. Although both of the leaders are very commanding, Ralph was elected, like a democracy, and Jack forced his way into power through false hope. The result ended up more like a dictatorship.
We all want to live in a world where we have freedom, rights, opinions and democracy gives us that. In the book Lord of the Flies, Ralph’s democratic leadership style is much better than Jack’s dictator leadership style because everyone has equal rights and that is fair. Firstly, Ralph gives everyone on the island a chance to express their opinion and contribute. Secondly, getting rescued is the most important thing for Ralph. Last but not least, Jack is very self centered and selfish. He is rude and inconsiderate. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
“I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you.” (127). Jack leaves Ralph’s tribe because Ralph is a coward and he makes the rules. Jack’s leadership qualities comes back with a force and he makes his own tribe. Jack does like anyone telling him what to do and he is frustrated because of Ralph taking over him. Another reason to make his own tribe is that Ralph does not appreciate Jack hunting and he accuses him to let the fire out. His leadership skills become stronger but in a negative way. His behavior has changed because of hunting and by spending time on the island. Jack has become a sociopath. Even his hunting style has become more violent. After hunting a sow, he tortures the pig physically until the pig has a painful death. He also cuts the throat of the pig and places the head on the stick as a sacrifice. This action shows psychopathic tendency and how he was not able to kill the pig in his first attempt in hunting and now he abuses the pig and sacrifices the head. “He squirmed and looked down.”(160). When Stanley, a member of Jack’s tribe asks Jack about the death of Simon, Jack replies him by nervously saying no. This response by Jack portrays that Jack is trying to tell himself that he his not responsible for his own actions. During Simon’s murder, Jack was wearing a mask on his face and that makes him not responsible for Simon’s murder. During the end of the novel, Jack starts wearing his mask all the time because he does not want to be responsible for his own actions. ““He’s going to beat Wilfred.” “what for?” Robert shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been”-he giggled excitedly-”he’s been tied for hours, waiting-”” (159). This quote from the novel clearly shows how Jack has been treating his tribe members. He is beating them for no reason by tieing them up for hours. Jack shows no emotion and he has become cold blooded. The
Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look to the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader. He has a better understanding for the boys. He also has more common sense and treats the boys better than Jack.
There are many aspects that determine how humans behave around one another. This is shown throughout William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. This book is about a group of British boys that are stranded on an island without any adults due to a plane crash. At first, all goes well; the boys cooperate in attempting to maintain the fire signal, gather food and making shelters. However, human nature takes over and their democracy that they have created fails. This leads to the majority of the boys becoming complete savages when the evil within them takes over. Different qualities help determine whether a person is a good or a bad leader. Although, Piggy and Jack have some leadership qualities, Ralph is the best leader.
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos.
In a group, there are always people who prove to have better leadership skills then others. The strongest of these people can often influence the weaker people into following them. However, the strongest person is not necessarily the best leader as it is proven in William Golding's book, The Lord of the Flies. Although Ralph is the weaker person, he is still able to show a better understanding of people than Jack who is stronger. Ralph demonstrates his excellent leadership skills throughout the book by keeping the group in line, treating everyone with respect, and staying focused on getting rescued.
* Jack did not have the integrity to keep the Beast at bay. It slowly crept into him and later took full control once he put on the painted mask. He is the perpetrator of the two deaths that occur on the island and wishes to spend his time hunting (killing) instead of helping Ralph with being rescued.
We know jack supported Ralph in making lots and lots of rules because he wants to punish anybody who breaks them, the book later shows his interest in having rules was for him to have the power to break it and punish any of the boys who break them and to give more opportunities for the boys to break them, jack is one of the boys who breaks the most rule, he broke the conch rule that make the boys feel civilized, the rule of keeping the fire going all the time so if there is any ship passing by they could see the fire smoke and rescue them, all to have power, please himself and satisfy his need to overthrow ralph, Jack wants to break the rules so he could be free for it, he has lived all his life with rules so why should he do so in this island that nobody knows if he or the boys are alive. In lord of the flies,
The fact that Jack acts like this is very important to the story. Jack’s lust for power and blood sped the story up a lot faster. It’s possible that without Jack the boys wouldn’t even become savage. Jack is also a bully, and forces the boys out of fear into what he wants them to do. In, “The Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, Jack is pretty much equivalent to a middle school bully, but the circumstances he is in, turns him into something even worse.