Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Josephs Stalin and Emperor Hirohito were all the worst human beings the world has ever seen, but they were also the most effective leaders in World War II. During the war, the allied forces faced such an opposition because these harsh dictators were so effective in leading people into war. They ruled with an iron fist over the public. Instead of ruling democratically, they told the people what they should want instead of asking or hearing it from the civilians. England and France had a hard time fighting against them because they had wanted to prevent the war by democratically, for instance through the Munich agreement. However that did not work and at the end went to more uncivilised ways such as WW2. William …show more content…
Golding’s world famous book, The Lord of the Flies, takes place during World War 2, but not on a war zone but an island filled with young lost British boys. Golding portraits the boys and their lives on the island like how things were outside during the war. He gives civilised boys characteristics of Hitler and the Nazis, and what even young boys could do if given the power and freedom to do what’s in their heart like Hitler. Most of the other boys who stuck to what they felt was right, met horrifying endings, like the Jews and the people who did not agree with Hitler’s beliefs. Many might say how can these civilized British boys become such savages in a matter of weeks? That is just not possible, but Golding is trying to tell us that that is exactly what happened during the war with how all the intelligent and civilized men were acting towards the Jews. The boys’ society on the island was almost exactly the same as the worlds during the war. In Golding’s book, he states the egalitarian of tranny was better for the island society rather than democracy. He shows us this by comparing his two main characters; Jack and Ralph. Jack represents violence, evil and savagery. Ralph on the other hand, represents civilization and democratise. They both get a chance to rule over the other boys on the island but Jack’s leadership was more effective on the boys rather than Ralph’s. Jack being the tyrant and Ralph being the democrat. The real question is, which strategy works best on the island? This book proves to us that the strategy of someone who sticks to their goals, has proper control over there people and is competent in difficult situations is the better leader. These are all qualities found in Jack which made him a better dictator and more productive than Ralph could ever be as a democrat. What is a good quality for a leader?
A good leader sticks to his beliefs and goals. Jack has wanted to hunt and catch meat for the boys since the very beginning of the book. Some may say that Ralph is truly dedicated to the fire and the hope of rescue it brought, but that however is false. Ralph on countless occasions forgot about the fire and what he stood for against Jack. “But the…oh…the fire! Of course, the fire!”(Golding, 156), Ralph himself forgets about his main focus when trying to remind the other boys. If he forgets about what he’s standing up for, then how will he convince the other boys that he is the right choice to lead them and not Jack? “‘The fire’s the most important thing on the island, because, because-’ He paused again and the silence became full of doubt and wonder,” (Golding, 156) Ralph not only confuses himself but also the other boys. The boys do not need more confusion in their lives with already being stuck on an Unknown Island, feeling homesick and having constant nightmares about beasts. “I ought to give up being chief. Hear’ em,” (Golding, 100) Ralph lacks confidence in his leadership skills, which makes all of the other boys doubt him as much as he doubts himself. How is he supposed to push and encourage the boys this way? No one wants to listen to someone who does not even believe in themselves. “If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued,” …show more content…
(Golding, 99) after things not going his way, he wants to give up. A good leader should never lose hope like that, he is his people’s inspiration and courage. Without him there is no team or community or society. Jack on the other, would not lose confidence in his goals when it comes to hunting. He knows what he stands for. The boys know what he stands for. Jack kept to what he stood for and never backed out. Jack was even brilliant in making the others believe that that is what they wanted too. Ralph had a hard time resisting getting sucked into Jack’s world of hunting because of that. If Piggy had not been there with him to advise him to do otherwise, Ralph would have been another hunter living under Jack’s rules. “I hit him,” said Ralph again, “and the spear stuck in a bit.” He felt the need of witnesses. “Didn’t you see me? Maurice nodded. “I saw you, right bang in his snout-Wheee!” Ralph talked on, excitedly. “I hit him alright. The spear stuck in. I wounded him!” He sunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all. (Golding, 124) Jack only brought Ralph hunting with him once, but that is all it took for Ralph to forget about fire and how hunting was not the main important thing on the island. He got so intrigued by the idea of hurting the pig in some way, he forgot about all of their problems at hand. Ralph does not have his priorities straight, he lacks confidence in his leadership and he does not even want the title of chief. Jack on the other hand knows what he wants, he sticks to his beliefs and more than anything wants to lead the group of boys on the island, which proves him to be the better leader. Actions have consequences, most of us have all heard the saying we were brought up with. Giving consequences to our actions is a must, and that is how we restore order in our communities. When Ralph was in charge, people never helped him build shelter, fill coconut shells with water, or go to the washroom in the assigned areas. Everything was chaos even though Ralph, was the civilized leader compared to Jack, the savage. If he is such a proper individual to lead the boys, than why was no listening to him. People talked over him during meetings even though no one was supposed to speak unless holding the conch. He was so disrespected by the boys, he did not even know it. Jack had more influence on the boys even when Ralph was still chief. Jack became the law on the island by using his power. People respected Jack because they were scared of him. He is rude, loud and intimidating. Why would someone want a tyrant leader like that? For he is also strong, powerful and cunning. He’s aware that the boys wanted to hunt rather than waiting to be rescued. Jack recognizes what the boys want most; protection, food and fun. “We hunt and feast and have fun.” and that is exactly what he gives them. "I gave you food," said Jack, "and my hunters will protect you from the beast,” (Golding, 166) he uses their weakness to become their leader. Jack understands what it takes to get power and how to keep the power. Hence that is why Jack set rules and consequences for them if ever broken. This is how he stays powerful, respected and scared of, on the island. ‘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--’ ‘But didn’t Chief say why?’ ‘I never heard him.’ (Golding, 176) Jack demonstrations his power over the boys by showing them who’s stronger. He rules with an iron fist over all of them. No one ever questions Jack authority in his tribe because they know that there will consequences that they do not want to face. The boys still listen to what Jack has to say unlike Ralph. Jack may be strict while leading the boys but he was also the most effective leader compared to Ralph, which proves to us, that the ruling of Jack’s tranny is better for the island society rather than Ralph’s democracy. Jack learns from his mistakes.
After trying to overthrow Ralph as chief but failing, Jack brings all the older kids to his side and discovers a way for why the boys should pick him as the leader. He eventually returns to Ralph’s tribe and promises them all food, protection and fun if they are willing to join him. When Jack is finally in control, he finds ways to keep his position as chief by being competent in difficult situation unlike Ralph. When a lightning storm was happening on the first night at Castle Rock, where Jack’s tribe lives, Ralph pointed out there was no shelter so how would they survive? The boys had start to question if leaving Ralph’s tribe was a good idea after all, but Jack distracts them all by chanting and pretending they were killing the beast to move their attention from the real problem. Keeping the people thoughts away from their tragic situation and giving them an easy distraction by being able to takeout their problems on an animal rather than their leader. However, all of this chanting became so aggressive and violent that when another boy named Simon enters the scene; everyone assumes he is the beast and kills him. The next day, realizing what they had done, no one knew how to react. Nevertheless, Jack thought quickly about the perfect way to leave the killing behind them by stating "He came—disguised.” (Golding, 177) He thought of a clever way to cover up the fact that the savages did not murder one of the boys, but the “beast” in disguise.
This made them feel less guilty for what they had done. Jack distracts them from the problem at hand and decides to use all the emotions they had at the moment to his advantage by convincing them to steal fire from Ralph’s tribe. Jack knows how to make things work to his benefit. They also have a bigger sense of purpose at Jack’s tribe rather than Ralph’s. “Some of you will stay here to improve the cave and defend the gate. I shall take a few hunters with me and bring back meat. The defenders of the gate will see that the others do not sneak in,” Jack gives them all jobs and finds creative ways to make it more important so that the boys would actually want to do it. No one complains about doing actual work at Jack’s tribe like they did at Ralph’s. Jack proves to us he is the better leader once again by sticking to his goals, taking proper control over the boys and being competent in difficult situations; making him a better leader, which proves to us that governing like a tyrant was better for the island community rather than as a democrat.
Ralph is a good leader because he likes to make sure things have order. He is the one who finds the conch and puts as rule that you must hold the conch in order to speak. (page 33). No Jack would not be a better leader that Ralph because he doesn’t want to get rescued his mentality is to hunt in order to survive.
Throughout the novel when Ralph notices some of the boys have started to turn into savages, he tries to put an end to it as soon as possible. Ralph wants the young boys to remain as close to their old selves as much as they can, rather than transforming into unrecognizable people. Once the boys have gotten somewhat settled in on the island, they forget to watch after the most important job, as seen in Ralph’s eyes, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there might be a ship out there” (Golding 42). The majority of the group has turned to having fun rather than getting rescued. Ralph is one of the only people that has common sense and seems to know their correct priorities. We can see that choosing Ralph to be the leader may lead to benefiting them all. In chapter 11, Jack and his group have bombarded Ralph’s group and stolen Piggy’s glasses, so when Piggy asks what they are going to do, Ralph responds with, “Supposing we go, looking like we used to, washed and hair brushed- after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game--” (Golding 170). Ralph ends up handling this given situation like an adult. He can see quite clearly that the thought of salvation and maturity has no meaning to everyone in Jack's’ group. They have been treating their whole situation like it is just a game, but Ralph knows at this point that rescue is
However, as the plot progresses, Ralph faces both internal and external conflicts; from those conflicts he greatly matures. Ralph always has the strong belief that all the children will be saved from the island sooner or later; he is so sure that he even insists that they should have fire at all times to signal. However, when the boys abandon the fire which is symbolic of Ralph’s hope of getting saved, Ralph faces an internal conflict that makes him fear about their future; perhaps they will not be rescued at all. By insisting that the children should keep the fire going, he creates an external conflict with Jack whose values are different. Jack is enjoying life as a leader of the savages, and he fears that fire will possibly end his authoritarian rule over the savages. Both conflicts are resolved when Ralph finally meets the naval officer.
Ralph has several positive characteristics but he also has several crucial weaknesses that prevent him from being the perfect leader. In chapter one the boys decide who they want to be leader. The boys decide on Ralph, “”Vote for a chief!”…every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 18-19). From the very beginning Ralph is seen as the leader. He becomes the one the boys look up to and depend on to make decisions in their best interest. Ralph has natural leadership skills. Landing on the island with no adults to take control, the boys chose to follow the one boy who seems to be doing something productive, Ralph. An example of Ralph being purposeful and productive is when he blows the conch to get the attention of all the boys on the island and bring them together for a meeting. When Jack and his choir find the other boys gathered he asks where the man with the trumpet is, Ralph replies, “There’s no man with a trumpet. We’re having a meeting. Want to join?” (Golding 16). Ralph asks Jack and the choir boys to join the meeting because he wants all the boys to work together so they can be rescued as soon as possible. Other than his leadership and purposeful qualities, Ralph is also hard working. When tasks are given out to the boys, such as building shelters, hunting, gathering food, the hard work of most boys turns into play and exploration leaving Ralph to do most of the work by himself with little help from others. When the other boys gave up on their tasks Ralph continued working, this proves his hard work. Leadership, purposeful, and hard working are all positive qualities that helped Ralph succeed in the novel, but Ralph also had some majo...
Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack immediately found himself in the center of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between Jack and Ralph. Once the boys had assembled themselves there was an election to see who was to be chief. Despite the fact that Ralph was voted leader, the desire to be in command never left Jack. Jack already had some leadership skills, being head choirboy at his old school, and he continuously challenged Ralph. The greatest source of conflict between Jack and Ralph was the debate over the necessity of maintaining a fire. Ralph felt that it was necessary to keep it burning at all times while Jack believed that hunting pigs and getting meat was much more essential.
Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense of keeping his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability as an authority figure.
Hostile demand is not what makes a great leader. Jack doesn't understand priority, and it's seen in chapter four after a ship passes the island and there is no fire to create smoke as a signal. Ralph says, “You let the fire go out.” (Golding 80). Jack's unprioritized guilty mind is noticed here in this quote, “He flushed, conscious of a fault. "The fire's only been out an hour or two. We can light up again--" He noticed Ralph's scarred nakedness, and the sombre silence of all four of them” (Golding 81). This is why it's unreasonable to say that Jack would be a better leader. He is unable to prioritize the needs of their society and of his peers because he doesn't fully understand what it means to be a leader and look at the bigger picture. Jack is the definition of chaos, and with him as a leader, the society would deteriorate quickly without the proper structure that Ralph
His concern for the individuals in the group is pertinent from the beginning: he conveys to Jack the necessity of shelters “as a sort of [home]”, upon noticing the distress of the younger children (pg. 58). It is seen that Ralph’s problems are not his own; he assumes the role of leader to bring orderly forces of civilization to all. By approaching circumstances with logistics rather than emotion, Ralph does not lose sight of himself in the face of adversity. Despite this, he is later forced to act irrationally in order to preserve his status. When confronted with the evidence of the beast, Ralph is hesitant to hunt it; he is only manipulated into doing so when Jack “[sneers]” and questions him if he is “frightened” (pg. 100). However, Ralph does not respond out of his spite or self-pride as he understands that he must retain his status among the boys. If he does not remain chief, Jack will secure the position, bearing the notion that there will always be individuals working against altruism for their own benefit. Ralph sacrifices his morals by becoming subservient to Jack’s ego, yet does so in order to preserve civility within the group. On the day of the boys’ rescue, Ralph understands that his efforts to preserve peace and order are all for naught. Man’s destructive forces overwhelm him as “[he weeps] for … the darkness of man’s
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.
Evidence throughout the novel justifies that Ralph is a better leader than Jack is, as he possess more qualities of a good leader, and is better fit to lead the boys on the island back to society. To begin with, Ralph is one of the most, if not the most, responsible and hardworking people on the island. He relentlessly works on the task at hand until it is completed, regardless of the weather, the immensity of the task, or the amount of assistance he is receiving. An example of his perseverance and commitment is demonstrated in chapter 3, when Ralph and Jack are arguing over the work being done on the island. Ralph started by saying, “You remember the meeting?”.
Both boys are tempted by the ‘Beast’, but while we see Jack succumb to his inner human desires and cross the line to brutality, Ralph resists temptation, although he finds it difficult.
The very first time Ralph is introduced to the reader, one can see his sense of observation even in the first sentence that he says: "This is an island, at least I think it's an island. That's a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren't any grownups anywhere." As everyone knows, a good sense of observation is essential for a leader. He was chosen as a leader by the other boys, which shows the civilized instinct with humans. Ralph represents order and discipline in this chaotic world without grownups, which is shown by his character and composure during the first meeting. He almost defines himself with his first speech, "Listen everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island, we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island or not. Everybody must stay around here and wait and not go away. Three of us-if we take more, we'd get all mixed, and lose each other-three of us will go on an expedition and find out. I'll go, and Jack, and, and...." (p.23-24) Ralph wastes no time in bringing order to the group. He shows intelligence and self-control by not jumping into conclusions and by wanting "time to think things out." That displays to the reader he is cautious . Surely the other boys recognized this also, for he had earned the title, chief.
In Lord of the Flies, Jack struggles to surrender to the orders of Ralph, the elected chief, and ridicules the other boys who do not possess his natural prowess for commanding the group. For example, when Ralph reprimands the hunters for not tending to the signal fire and ignoring their responsibilities, Jack angrily replies, “‘and you shut up! Who are you anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing’” (Golding 123). Jack does not understand why Ralph was chosen over himself. Having always maintained the top position of the choirboys, he cannot accept ceding power to Ralph. Jack rationalizes his superiority over Ralph as being the boy who possesses singing and hunting abilities and a previous leadership role, therefore the rightful chief. Because Jack is obsessed with the thought that he deserves to rule, it never occurs to him that Ralph’s orders are logical, simple, and civ...
... Ralph has proven to have a much better understanding of people and their needs and this makes him a much better leader than Jack. With Ralph's understanding of the need for order and rules, he improves the condition where the boys are living in. Jack's condition was horrible. Also, Jack treated the boys very badly and like he better. Ralph, on the other hand treated the boys all equally and with respect. Ralph's priority to get off the island shows his wisdom and ability to make good decisions. Although Jack was popular on the island for the short amount of time the boys were there, he would not have been popular for much longer. He does not have any of the qualities that a good leader should have and turned himself and the rest of the boys into complete losers. Jack's plan would have soon faded but if Ralph had become leader, his wisdom would last much longer.
This is illustrated when he says "There was a ship… you said you'd keep the smoke going". Ralph's leadership is what keeps the order among the boys on the island. Ralph's desire for home is what drives him to lead the group of boys and to keep an orderly society on the island. Creating the signal fire was Ralph's only way to get home and it is clear he knows this when he tells Jack "No fire, no smoke, no rescue.